English
crud
Crud comes from Middle English crud ‘coagulated milk’, from Old English crūdan ‘to press’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *grewt- ‘to push’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*grewt-1‘to push’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krūdaną2‘to press’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*krūdan2‘to press, push’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150crūdan3‘to press’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crud3‘coagulated milk’
- Englishearliest quotation 2011crud3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *krūdaną
- 2 Wiktionary, Old English crudan
- 3 Wiktionary, English crud
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, Henry Z. Kister, Distillation Troubleshooting: “The covered cardboard boxes held and the packings in…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*grewt-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *krūdaną‘to push’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krūdanąWiktionary, Old English crudan‘to press’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*krūdanWiktionary, Old English crudan‘to press, push’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150crūdanWiktionary, English crud‘to press’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crudWiktionary, English crud‘coagulated milk’
- Englishearliest quotation 2011crudWiktionary, English crud. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, Henry Z. Kister, Distillation Troubleshooting: “The covered cardboard boxes held and the packings in…”
Linked words
through Old English crūdan ‘to press’
Today it means
noun Dirt, filth or refuse.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “crud”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *krūdaną, Old English crudan. 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 *grewt- / crud