An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Krebs

by Friedrich Kluge

Krebs, masculine, ‘crayfish,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krëbeȥe, krëbeȥ, Old High German chrëbiȥ, chrëbaȥo, masculine; compare Dutch kreeft, masculine, ‘crayfish’; allied to Low German Krabbe. The German word passed at an early period into Romance (compare French écrevisse, ‘cray fish,’ and crevette, ‘shrimp’). It is not connected with Greek κάραβος, but rather with Old High German chrâpfo, ‘hook’; Krebs, literally ‘hooked or claw fish’?. See Krapfen (2).