The story
- German · calque ofKrähenbeere
- English todaycrowberry
From crow + berry; probably a calque of German Krähenbeere. Apparently so-called due to birds' fondness for the fruit. Yet the dark color (compare Old Norse blár (“blue-black, like a raven's sheen”)) may be the main or another factor; compare Inuktitut paurngaq (“crowberry”) (allegedly meaning "which looks like soot").
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.