Etymology

scrawl

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Today it means: Irregular, poor handwriting; especially, such writing that is illegible. Full definition →

Middle English scraulen
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scrawl · noun, verb1

  1. Middle English · derived fromscraulen“to spread out one's limbs; sprawl”
  2. English todayscrawl

Possibly from Middle English scraulen (“to spread out one's limbs; sprawl”), itself an alteration of spraulen (“to sprawl”) or craulen, crawlen (“to crawl”). Alternatively, from scrall, a contraction of scrabble.

scrawl · verb2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromscraulen“to crawl”
  2. English todayscrawl

From Middle English scraulen (“to crawl”), itself an alteration of crawlen (“to crawl”). More at crawl.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.