Etymologically
Log in

creep

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:33. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɹiːp/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English crepen, inherited from Old English crēopan (“to move with the body close to the ground”),[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *kreupaną,[2][3][4] cognate with Old Frisian kriāpa, Middle Dutch crūpen (modern kruipen) and Old Norse krjúpa,[2][3][4] perhaps from a PIE root meaning crooked.[3] It is related to cripple.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 899, in Alfred's translation of Boethius, in Barnhart.[2]

Semantic evolution

To move secretly or slowly, feebly or timidly, is from about 1300,[3][4] and of plants growing along the ground or a wall from the 16th century.[4] Weak past forms such as crept are found from about 1300.[4][7] The noun, a creeping motion, is from 1818;[3][7] the slow imperceptible movement of coal in mines is by 1813, and of soil in geology by 1889.[3] A despicable person is American slang by 1886,[3] and the creeps, a feeling of dread, is first in Dickens in 1849.[3] Mission creep, the gradual extension of a mission, is American military jargon from 1994.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 899 – crēopan.[2]
  • c. 1300 – to move stealthily.[3]
  • 1818 – a creep (noun).[3][7]
  • 1849 – the creeps.[3]
  • 1886 – a despicable person.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To move slowly and quietly, especially to avoid being noticed.
  2. To move with the body close to the ground; to crawl.
  3. Of a plant, to grow along the ground or up a surface.
  4. To increase or spread gradually.

Noun

  1. (informal) An unpleasant or repulsive person.
  2. The creeps: a feeling of fear or revulsion.
  3. The slow deformation of a metal or other material under stress.

Word family

  • creepingly
  • noncreeping
  • creepage
  • creeper
  • creepy
  • creepy-crawly
  • outcreep
  • creeping Charlie

Usage notes

On the coasts of Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Kent, Sussex and Dorset, to creep was to drag for tubs of spirits sunk in the sea by smugglers.[8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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)