crutch

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ger-“to turn, bend”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*grewg-“wrinkle, bend”
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*krukjō“crutch, staff”
4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*krukkju
5. Old English · inherited fromcryċċ“crutch, staff”
6. Middle English · inherited fromcrucche
7. English todaycrutch

From Middle English crucche, from Old English cryċċ (“crutch, staff”), from Proto-West Germanic *krukkju, from Proto-Germanic *krukjō (“crutch, staff”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewg- (“wrinkle, bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Scots curche, crutch (“crutch, stilts”), Dutch kruk (“crutch”), Low German krukke, Krück (“crutch”), German Krücke (“crutch”), Swedish krycka (“crutch”). Latin crucia, crucca, croccia, crocia (“crutch”), and its descendants are ultimately from the Germanic.

Words from the same roots