Decry is from French décrier ('to cry down, discredit'), from Old French descrier, from des- ('down, away') + crier ('to cry'). Originally meaning to decry coinage as below value. The ancestry passes through Old French descrier, Old French crier, and Latin quiritare. In present use as a verb, it means "to publicly denounce or condemn", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include decried and decrying; derived forms include decrier and decrial. Its contrast set includes praise, laud, extol, and commend, which clarifies the semantic boundary of the modern word.