An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/kriechen

by Friedrich Kluge

kriechen, verb, ‘to crawl,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kriechen, Old High German chriohhan, strong verb; corresponding to Old Saxon kriupan, Dutch kruipen, Anglo-Saxon creópan, English to creep, Old Icelandic krjúpa. The relation of the High German form with ch from k to the remaining Teutonic languages with p has well-authenticated analogies; see Rufe (1), werfen, and Strunk. The guttural appears again in Middle English crûchen, English to crouch. Kraufen, ‘to crawl,’ is the Middle High German (Middle German) krûfen.