An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Krätze

by Friedrich Kluge

Krätze (1.), f., ‘dosser,’ from MidHG. kręzze, also kratte, m., ‘basket’; OHG. chręzzo and chratto, m., ‘basket.’ Perhaps the word is allied, on account of the MidHG. variant krenze, with Kranz. On the other hand, OHG. chratto and MidHG. kratte suggest AS. cradol, E. cradle, and also Du. krat, AS. crœt, E. cart (orig. ‘cart-basket’?), E. crate. With Gr. κάρταλλος, ‘basket,’ these cognates cannot be connected.

Krätze (2.), f., ‘itch,’ from MidHG. kretz, kratz, allied to kratzen.