cradle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɹeɪdəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cradel, inherited from Old English cradol (“little bed, cot”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Proto-Germanic *kradulaz,^[3][4] related to Old High German kratto “basket”.^[3][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A little bed for an infant, properly one mounted on rockers (c. 1000).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

From the 14th century the word was used of various frameworks for holding, supporting or hoisting things,^[4][7] such as the support for a ship under construction.^[2][6] In farming a cradle was a frame of long wooden teeth fixed to a scythe for laying grain as it was cut (1573).^[7][4] Figuratively a cradle is the place where something is nurtured in its early stage (1590),^[7][4] as in the cradle of civilization.^[2][6] The telephone cradle dates from 1903.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – a baby's bed.^[7][3]
• 1379 – a framework of bars or rods.^[7]
• 1573 – a frame attached to a scythe.^[7][4]
• 1590 – a place of origin or nurture.^[7][4]
• 1768 – cat's cradle.^[3][4]
• 1903 – the rest of a telephone receiver.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small low bed for an infant, usually on rockers.
2. The earliest period of life; infancy.
3. A place of origin or early development, as in the cradle of democracy.
4. A framework that supports something, such as a ship under repair, an injured limb or a telephone receiver.
5. A frame of long teeth attached to a scythe, used for cutting grain.
6. A box on rockers used for washing gold-bearing earth.

Verb

1. To hold gently and protectively, as in cradled the child's head.
2. To place in or as if in a cradle; to care for in infancy.
3. To cut (grain) with a cradle.

Word family

• cradler
• cradlesong
• cradle-to-grave
• cat's cradle

Related words

• crib
• cot

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press