Etymologically
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crate

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Pronunciation

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

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