Etymograph

English

cricket

Cricket (the game) is perhaps from Flemish met de krik ketsen ‘to chase a ball with a curved stick’.

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentmet de krik ketsen1‘to chase a ball with a curved stick’uncertain
  2. Englishtodaycricket1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cricket

Lineage

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentmet de krik ketsenWiktionary, English cricket‘to chase a ball with a curved stick’uncertain
  2. EnglishtodaycricketWiktionary, English cricket

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- ‘to make a sound, cry hoarsely’

crane, crow, geranium, 7 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gerg-

crouch, crochet, encroach, 7 more

through Proto-West Germanic *krakōn ‘to crack, crackle, shriek’

crack, creak, 5 more

Another origin of cricket

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentmet de krik ketsen‘to chase a ball with a curved stick’uncertain
  2. Englishtodaycricket

Today it means

noun An insect in the order Orthoptera, especially family Gryllidae, that makes a chirping sound by rubbing its wing casings against combs on its hind legs.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cricket”. 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 / Dutch met de krik ketsen / cricket

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