'Cruel' is Latin for 'raw and bloody' — from 'crudus,' sharing a PIE root with English 'raw.'
Wilfully causing pain or suffering to others; devoid of compassion or mercy.
From Old French 'cruel' (cruel, savage, harsh), from Latin 'crūdēlis' (hard-hearted, unfeeling, merciless, cruel), from 'crūdus' (raw, bloody, unripe, uncooked) and ultimately from the PIE root *krewh₂- (raw flesh, blood, gore). This root carried the visceral sense of raw meat, uncooked flesh, blood not yet dried — the material of violence before it is processed into something socially acceptable. The semantic path runs: raw/bloody → savage/uncooked → unfeeling toward suffering
English 'cruel' and 'raw' are distant cousins — both descend from PIE *krewh₂- (raw flesh, blood). The Latin branch gave 'cruel' (via 'crūdēlis') and 'crude' (via 'crūdus'), while the Germanic branch gave 'raw' (via Old English 'hrēaw'). The connection makes visceral sense: cruelty is a 'raw,' unrefined savagery, and a 'crude' action is one