Etymograph

English

crouch

Crouch comes from Middle English crouchen ‘to bend, crouch’, from Old Norse krókr ‘hook’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ger- ‘to turn, wind, weave’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ger-1‘to turn, wind, weave’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerg-1‘wicker, bend’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krōkaz1‘hook’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350krókr1‘hook’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500croken1‘to bend, crook’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crouchen1‘to bend, crouch’variant of croken
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588crouch1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English crouch
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “kings ſhall crouch vnto our conquering ſwords, And hoſtes…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ger-Wiktionary, English crouch‘to turn, wind, weave’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerg-Wiktionary, English crouch‘wicker, bend’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krōkazWiktionary, English crouch‘hook’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350krókrWiktionary, English crouch‘hook’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crokenWiktionary, English crouch‘to bend, crook’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crouchenWiktionary, English crouch‘to bend, crouch’variant of croken
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588crouchWiktionary, English crouch. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “kings ſhall crouch vnto our conquering ſwords, And hoſtes…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ger- ‘to turn, wind, weave’

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

through Proto-Indo-European *gerg- ‘wicker, bend’

cricket, crack, crick, 6 more

through Proto-Germanic *krōkaz ‘hook’

crook, crochet, 2 more

through Old Norse krókr ‘hook’

encroach, 2 more

through Middle English croken ‘to bend, crook’

crooked, croak

Today it means

verb To bend down; to stoop low; to stand close to the ground with legs bent, like an animal when waiting for prey, or someone in fear.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crouch”. 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- / crouch

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