Etymograph

English

crooked

Crooked comes from Middle English croken ‘to crook, bend’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *krōkōn.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*krōkōn1‘to bend, curve, or make crooked’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*crōcian1reconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500croken2‘to crook, bend’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500croked2past participle of croken
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1850crooked2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English croken
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English crooked
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “[A]and the farther they got an the bridge, the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*krōkōnWiktionary, Middle English croken‘to bend, curve, or make crooked’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*crōcianWiktionary, Middle English crokenreconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crokenWiktionary, English crooked‘to crook, bend’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crokedWiktionary, English crookedpast participle of croken
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1850crookedWiktionary, English crooked. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “[A]and the farther they got an the bridge, the…”

Linked words

through Middle English croken ‘to crook, bend’

crouch, croak

Today it means

adj Not straight; having one or more bends or angles.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crooked”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English croken. 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-West Germanic *krōkōn / crooked

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