Etymology

cradle

C3R1A1D2L1E1

Today it means: A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots. Full definition →

Middle English cradel ← Old English cradol ← Proto-West Germanic *kradul
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*kradô“(wicker) basket”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kradulaz
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kradul
  4. Old English · inherited fromcradol
  5. Middle English · inherited fromcradel
  6. English todaycradle

From Middle English cradel, credel, from Old English cradol, from Proto-West Germanic *kradul, from Proto-Germanic *kradulaz, from Proto-Germanic *kradô (“(wicker) basket”). Related to cart.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.