Etymograph

English

crater

Crater comes from Latin crātēr ‘basin’, from Ancient Greek κρᾱτήρ ‘mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-1reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρᾱτήρ2krātḗr‘mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātēr2‘basin’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1828crater2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρατήρ
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English crater
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “In it large craters lie, And two-eared pitchers, all…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρατήρreconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρᾱτήρWiktionary, English craterkrātḗr‘mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātērWiktionary, English crater‘basin’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1828craterWiktionary, English crater. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “In it large craters lie, And two-eared pitchers, all…”

The story

First coined 1613, from Latin crātēr (‘basin’), from Ancient Greek κρᾱτήρ (krātḗr, “mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl”).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-

horn, hart, cheer, corny, cerebral, migraine, cornea, carotid, cairn, cornet, cerebellum, cranium, procrastinate, cerebrum, keratin, rother, 51 more

through Latin crātēr ‘basin’

grail

Today it means

noun A hemispherical pit created by the impact of a meteorite or other object.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crater”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek κρατήρ. 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 *ḱerh₂- / crater

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