crutch

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English crucche,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English crycc, accusative crycce,^[5][6][4] inherited from Proto-Germanic *krukjō.^[1][7][8] The cognates include Old Saxon krukka, Middle Dutch crucke, Dutch kruk,^[5][7][9] Old High German krucka, German Krücke,^[7][9] Old Norse krykkja, Danish krykke and Swedish krycka.^[5][9] The OED derives the Germanic form from the ablaut stem *kruk- of a verb meaning "to bend",^[5] and the word is related to crook and Old Norse krókr (“hook”).^{[10][3][9][11]} Further back, Barnhart and Köbler compare the root Proto-Indo-European *greug-,^[7][8] glossed "wrinkle, bend", and Merriam-Webster compares Old Irish gruc (“wrinkle”).^[12] The OED explains the Middle English change of the vowel to u by comparison with clutch, much and trust, and calls the phonology of the variants obscure.^[5] Italian gruccia (“crutch”) and crocco (“hook”) are loans from Germanic.^[9][3] Weekley mentions a suggested link with Latin crux,^[13] and Johnson derived the word from Italian and French forms.^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

A staff to lean on in walking: Old English, in the translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History,^[5][6] which Barnhart dates to about 900.^[7] Old English also used it for a crosier,^[9] and in a text cited by Bosworth–Toller a bishop strikes the ground with his cricc.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Weekley thinks the original sense was a staff with a bent handle, in line with its kinship with crook.^[13] An Old English text has a man creeping to Winchester on two crutches, and tells of an old church hung with them.^[6] Middle English has it too: in Laȝamon the lame Uther goes about with his crucche, and in Jacob and Joseph Jacob throws his away on hearing that Joseph lives.^[2] The OED notes that the crosspiece fitted under the armpit came later.^[5] From 1594 the crutch could stand for old age.^[5] The figurative "prop, support" is recorded from around 1600.^[3][7][5] From the 17th century the word spread to any forked support (1645), and the raised parts of a saddle (1607),^[5] then to clock parts (1753), nautical gear (1769) and a soap-boiler's stirring staff (1837).^[5] The Shorter Oxford dates the sense "human crotch" to the mid 18th century.^[11] The verb, first recorded for propping up, later meant walking on crutches (1828), and in Australia and New Zealand clipping wool from a sheep's hindquarters (1915).^[5][11] In 19th-century British slang a crutch was a crutch-handled walking stick carried by the man about town,^[15] and in 20th-century African American slang it was a car.^[15] In Nottinghamshire dialect it was a plough handle.^[16]

Timeline

• c. 900 – a staff for a lame or infirm person, in the Old English Bede.^[5][7]
• probably before 1200 – the form crucche, in Laȝamon's Brut (manuscript c. 1275).^[2][7]
• 1594 – a symbol of old age.^[5]
• 1602 – figurative, a prop or support, in Marston.^[7][5] The OED's date range for this sense starts at 1581.^[5]
• 1607 – the raised part at the front and back of a saddle (obsolete by 1689).^[5]
• 1641 – verb, to prop up, sustain.^[5] Merriam-Webster has 1609 and Barnhart 1642.^[12][7]
• 1645 – a forked support for various uses.^[5]
• 1753 – the fork on a clock's escapement that receives the pendulum rod.^[5]
• 1769 – nautical, a forked support for a boom or spar, and crooked timbers at the stern.^[5]
• 1828 – verb, to go on crutches.^[5]
• 1837 – in soap-boiling, a staff for stirring; also the verb.^[5]
• 1879 – British slang, a crutch-handled walking stick.^[15]
• 1915 – verb, chiefly in Australia and New Zealand, to clip the wool from a sheep's hindquarters.^[5]
• 1938 – African American slang, a car.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long staff with a rest that fits under the armpit or against the forearm, used to help someone lame or injured to walk: He spent a month on crutches after the fall.^[17][12][11]
2. Anything that gives support or assistance: She used the notes as a crutch throughout her talk.^[17][12][5]
3. A support or prop with a forked top.^[5][11]
4. The part of a saddletree that supports the pommel, or the forked leg rest of a sidesaddle.^[12][5]
5. (chiefly British) The crotch of the human body.^[17][11][12]
6. (nautical) A forked support for a boom or oar, or a brace strengthening the frames at the stern of a wooden vessel.^[17][5]
7. In a clock, the fork that receives the pendulum rod.^[5][11]
8. A staff with a crossbar, used to stir ingredients in soap-boiling or to push sheep into a dip.^[5][11]
9. (obsolete, 1607–89) The raised part at the front or back of a saddle.^[5][11]

Verb

1. To support with or as if with a crutch; to prop up: The firm was crutched up by government loans.^[12][17][5]
2. To walk on crutches.^[12][5][11]
3. To stir or mix with a crutch, especially in making soap.^[12][5]
4. (Australia and New Zealand) To clip the soiled wool from around a sheep's hindquarters.^{[17][12][5][11]}
5. (Australia and New Zealand) To push a sheep into a dip with a crutch.^[5][11]

Word family

• crutchlike

Related words

• crook
• crotch
• crosier
• cradle

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ a b c d e f Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
16. ^ 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)
17. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins