crate

Etymology

It is usually taken as borrowed from Latin crātis (“wickerwork, hurdle”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} which makes it a relative of grate, griddle and grill.^[7][8] Barnhart traces the Latin word to Proto-Indo-European *kr̥tís,^[8] and Klein and Etymonline connect it with hurdle.^[9][10] Because the main body of evidence, for a box or case, begins only in the late 17th century, its source has been doubted.^[7] Hoad notes the earliest spellings “creat” and “crade” and suggests the word came in with goods imported from Holland, comparing Dutch krat (“tailboard of a wagon; formerly a basket, the box of a coach”);^[11][12][13] Weekley thought it was brought with earthenware from Delft.^[14] The OED does not rule out the Dutch connection,^[2] and Etymonline allows both, perhaps from a common root.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hurdle or grillwork: 1397–98 in Barnhart,^[3][8] late 14th century in Etymonline,^[10] and 1526 in the OED.^[2] The Shorter Oxford notes that this sense appears in Anglo-Latin as crata.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The sense "hurdle" died out in the early 16th century.^[12][2] The modern sense, a wicker hamper or slatted wooden box for carrying crockery, glass, fruit and the like, is recorded from 1688, spelled “creat”.^[2][3][10] From 1823 a crate was also the frame in which a glazier carried glass.^[2] In northern and Midland English dialect a crate was a wicker basket or pannier for earthenware.^[15] The verb, to pack in a crate, dates from 1871.^[2][3][10] Slang applied the noun to worn-out means of transport: an old horse in American use from 1869,^[16] and an old aeroplane, originally in services' slang, from 1928, then to other old vehicles.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1397–98 – a hurdle, grillwork.^[3][8]
• 1526 – a hurdle or frame of cross bars (obsolete).^[2]
• 1688 – a large wicker case or slatted box for goods, spelled creat.^[2][3]
• 1823 – a glazier's frame for carrying glass.^[2]
• 1869 – an old horse (US slang).^[16]
• 1871 – verb, to pack in a crate.^[2][5]
• 1928 – an old aeroplane or other vehicle (slang).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fairly large container of wooden slats or wickerwork, for packing, storing or carrying goods: a crate of oranges.^[6][5][2]
2. (slang) An old, worn-out car or aeroplane.^[6][2]

Verb

1. To pack or put in a crate: The movers crated the paintings for shipping.^[6][5][2]

Word family

• eggcrate
• recrate
• uncrate

Related words

• grate
• griddle
• grill
• hurdle
• creel
• cradle

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
16. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com