Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/217

---

Rom. — Ital. greppia, Prov. crupia (the latter connected with the Teut. forms in u mentioned above), ModFr. crèche (whence E. cratch, ‘a grated crib,’ MidE. crache).

kritteln, vb., ‘to find fault, carp,’ ModHG. simply from a popular term, gritteln, ‘to wrangle’ (wanting in MidHG. and OHG.), with an allusion to Kritik, &c.

kritzeln, vb., ‘to scribble,’ dimin. of MidHG. kritzen, ‘to scrawl,’ OHG. chrizzôn, ‘to scratch or cut into.’ It is probably connected with kratzen, OHG. chrazzôn, as well as with OIc. krota, ‘to engrave, stamp.’ If this is not approved, it may be allied to Kreis (root krī̆t); kritjôn (whence chrizzôn) would then mean ‘to draw lines.’

Krolle, f., ‘curl’ (Rhen.), from the equiv. MidHG. krolle, krol(-les), m.; comp. Du. krul, f., ‘curl.’ MidHG. krol, adj., Du. krullig, MidE. crul, adj., ‘curly’; Du. krullen, MidE. crullen, ‘to frizzle.’ For the connection between MidHG. krolle, f. (Goth. *krŭzlô), and ModHG. kraus, MidHG. krûs, see under kraus.

Krone, f., ‘crown,’ from the equiv. MidHG. krône, krôn; in OHG. corôna (with the foreign accent preserved), from Lat. cŏrôna (the unaccented ŏ disappeared in MidHG.); comp. MidE. corûne, croune, E. crown; in MidDu. the double form crône, krûne, existed, Du. kroon, kruin. Scand. krúna, f. In AS. the term cyne-helm, lit. ‘king's helmet,’ was substituted for Lat. corona of the Biblical texts (just as sceptrum was rendered by cynegerd, lit. ‘king's staff’); in OSax. and OHG. hôƀidband, houbitbant, ‘crown.’ These words show that the Teutons had their own distinctive terms for the royal insignia. With the Lat. name they also borrowed a new idea —

krönen, ‘to crown,’ from MidHG. krœnen and a denominative from Krone; thus it is not Lat. coronare, to which OHG. chrônôn more accurately corresponds.

Kropf, m., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. kropf, m., ‘goitre, crop, craw’; corresponding to Du. krop, m., ‘crop, bosom, bow of a ship,’ E. crop (of birds, top, harvest), AS. cropp, which has the special meanings ‘crop, summit, top (of trees), ear (of corn, cluster of grapes’; OIc. kroppr, ‘trunk, body’ (also ‘hump’), is still more remarkable. To these numerous senses, a primary meaning, ‘a round mass in the shape of a ball, a projecting spherical body,’ has been assigned; with this the Rom. loan-words such as Fr. groupe, ‘group,

cluster, knot,’ coincide. Goth. *kruppa- might be related to Gr. γρῦπός, ‘curved,’ if ‘crop, excrescence,’ represented the prim. meaning of the group.

Kropzeug, n., ‘rogues,’ a LG. word, formed from LG. krôp (comp. kriechen), ‘crawling creature, small cattle,’ but this is not quite certain. Others connect it with the preceding word Kropf, which also signifies in Suab. and Bav. ‘small, crippled creature, little man.’

Kröte, f., from the equiv. MidHG. krote, kröte, krëte, f. (even now dial. Krote, Krotte), OHG. chrota, chrëta, f., ‘toad.’ The forms with ë and o are related by gradation; comp. Brett and Bord. The word is peculiar to G.; in OIc. padda, Du. padde, AS. tâdie, E. toad. Etymologically all three are equally obscure.

Krücke, f., ‘crutch,’ from the equiv. MidHG. krücke, krucke, OHG. chruccha (for *krukjô), f.; comp. Du. kruk, AS. cryčč, f. E. crutch. Certainly a genuine Teut. word (‘staff with a curved handle’); it is most closely connected with Scand. krókr, ‘hook, curve’; it may also be related to kriechen. In the MidHG. period it was confused with a Rom. term based upon Lat. crucea, and meaning ‘crosier.’ On the other hand, the Teut. word was submerged in many of the Rom. languages in the old inherited term; Ital. croccia, ‘crutch,’ crocco, ‘hook,’ Fr. crosse, ‘crook,’ croc, ‘hook’; MidLat. croca, ‘baculus episcopalis,’ crocea, ‘baculus pastoralis’ and ‘baculus incurvus,’ croceus, croccia, crucia, crucca, ‘crutch,’ Krücke can scarcely be explained from MidLat. crucea, ‘cross-bar’ (of a window), because this must have become chruzza (ce changed to tz); comp. Kreuz.

Krug (1.), m., ‘jug, pitcher,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kruoc (g), OHG. chruog, m,; corresponding to AS. crôg, crôh, ‘pitcher,’ also ‘bottle.’ Besides these terms, based upon a common form krôga-, there are several words allied in sound and meaning; comp. OSax. krûka, Du. kruik, f., AS. crûce, MidE. crouke; MidHG. krûche, f., ModHG. (dial.) Krauche. AS. crocca (and crohh), MidE. crokke, ‘pitcher,’ Ic. krukka, ‘pot.’ Since it is not improbable that all these terms were borrowed, we may perhaps connect them further with Krause. Their source, however, cannot be assigned, since the corresponding words in the allied languages may also have been borrowed, and are insufficient phonetically to account