Etymology

crick

C3R1I1C3K5

Today it means: A painful stiffness in some part of the body, like the neck or back, which makes it difficult to move the affected body part for some time; a cramp. Full definition →

Middle English crike, crykke
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crick · noun, verb1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromcrike, crykke“muscular spasm of the neck”
  2. English todaycrick

From Middle English crike, crykke (“muscular spasm of the neck”), attested since the 1400s. Likely related to Old Norse kriki (“bend; nook”), whence also crick (“creek”) and creek.

crick · noun2

See creek.

crick · verb, noun3

  1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*krakkjan
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*krakōn
  3. Middle English · inherited fromcrikken
  4. English todaycrick

Uncertain. Possibly an alteration of creak; or perhaps from Middle English crikken, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, or Proto-West Germanic *krakkjan

Crick · proper noun4

  1. Proto-Celtic · derived from*krouk-
  2. Proto-Brythonic · derived from*krʉg“heap, mound”
  3. English todayCrick

The Northamptonshire place-name is from Proto-Brythonic *krʉg (“heap, mound”) (itself from Proto-Celtic *krouk-; cf. Welsh crug).

Words from the same roots

Proto-West Germanic*krakōn all →

cricketkestrelcreakcrakechirkcharktocrack

Proto-Brythonic*krʉg all →

Churchdown

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.