From French crayon 'pencil,' from craie 'chalk,' from Latin crēta — the Romans associated chalk with the island of Crete.
From French crayon 'pencil,' from craie 'chalk,' from Latin crēta 'chalk, earth from Crete.' The Romans called chalk crēta because they associated it with the island of Crete, though the actual geological connection is dubious. Key roots: crēta (Latin: "chalk, Cretan earth").