Etymograph

English

crate

Crate comes from Dutch krat ‘crate, large box, basket’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ger- ‘to bind, twist, wind’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ger-1‘to bind, twist, wind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gretH-1‘plaiting, wicker, basket, cradle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kratjô1reconstructed
  4. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*kratta1reconstructed
  5. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500cratte1‘basketware, mold’
  6. Dutchc. 1500–presentkrat1‘crate, large box, basket’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1917crate1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English crate
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1917, Edwin B. Stimpson Co. v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co.: “He also testified that the reason he crated the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ger-Wiktionary, English crate‘to bind, twist, wind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gretH-Wiktionary, English crate‘plaiting, wicker, basket, cradle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kratjôWiktionary, English cratereconstructed
  4. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*krattaWiktionary, English cratereconstructed
  5. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500cratteWiktionary, English crate‘basketware, mold’
  6. Dutchc. 1500–presentkratWiktionary, English crate‘crate, large box, basket’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1917crateWiktionary, English crate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1917, Edwin B. Stimpson Co. v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co.: “He also testified that the reason he crated the…”

The story

Wider cognates include Sanskrit ग्रन्थ (grantha, “a binding”).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ger- ‘to bind, twist, wind’

creek, griffin, crotch, crouch, cripple, crutch, crosse, cram, crinkle, 9 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gretH- ‘plaiting, wicker, basket, cradle’

cart, cradle

Today it means

noun A large open box or basket, used especially to transport fragile goods.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crate”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ger- / crate

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