Etymograph

English

crook

Crook comes from Old English *crōc ‘hook, bend, crook’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *greg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*greg-1‘tracery, basket, bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krōkaz1‘bend, hook’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*krōk1‘hook’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*crōc1‘hook, bend, crook’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500croke1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1547crook1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English crook
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1547, Thomas Cranmer: “for all your brags, hooks, and crooks”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*greg-Wiktionary, English crook‘tracery, basket, bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krōkazWiktionary, English crook‘bend, hook’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*krōkWiktionary, English crook‘hook’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*crōcWiktionary, English crook‘hook, bend, crook’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crokeWiktionary, English crook
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1547crookWiktionary, English crook. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1547, Thomas Cranmer: “for all your brags, hooks, and crooks”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *krōkaz ‘bend, hook’

crochet, crouch, encroach, 2 more

Another origin of crook

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*krōkōn‘to bend, wrinkle’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*crōcianreconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crooken
  4. Englishtodaycrook

Today it means

noun A bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crook”. 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 *greg- / crook

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