crab English · revision 39755

+ The dictionaries give the shellfish and the wild apple numbered entries of their own;^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) Ayto notes that they may be unrelated, although some take the apple's name from the animal.^(Ayto 2005)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kɹæb/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|crustacean}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English|origins=gem-pro *krabbô}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|crabbe]], [[inh|ang|crabba]],^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD 2024) [[inh|gem-pro|*krabbô]].^(Etymonline) Its cognates include [[non|krabbi]], [[gml|krabbe]], [[dum|crabbe]], [[nl|krab]] and, with another suffix, [[goh|krebiz]], [[gmh|krebez]] and [[de|Krebs|t=crayfish]];^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(Barnhart 1995) [[m|goh|krebiz]] is the source of [[m|fr|écrevisse]] and so of [[crayfish]].^(OED 2026)^(Partridge 1966)^(Klein 1966) The animal seems to be named "the scratcher", for its claws:^(Klein 1966)^(Ayto 2005) the word is related to [[gml|krabben|t=to scratch, claw]], [[m|nl|krabbelen]] and [[non|krafla|t=to scratch]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) and Etymonline and Merriam-Webster connect it with the root of [[carve]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Barnhart gives an Indo-European root meaning to scratch.^(Barnhart 1988) [[m|fr|crabe]] (13th century) was borrowed from Germanic, probably Norse.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) The OED stresses that the word has no connection with [[la|cancer]].^(OED 2026) The verb meaning to find fault was first a falconer's word, used of hawks that claw each other, from [[gml|krabben]];^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921) Etymonline and Barnhart derive it rather from [[crabbed]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A ten-legged crustacean with a broad shell and a front pair of pincers: Old English, in the vocabularies edited by Wright and Wülcker,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) about 1000 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1995) It appears as a surname in 1188,^(Barnhart 1995) and the name of the zodiacal constellation, the Crab, also goes back to Old English.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The shape of the animal gave the ''crab-louse'' (1540s), shortened to ''crab'' from 1840,^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) and the ''Crab Nebula'' in Taurus (1840s), named for its shape.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) Machines with claws for hoisting weights were called crabs from the 17th century: a small capstan (1631), a three-legged hoisting frame (1627–1753) and the travelling gear of a crane (1874).^(OED 2026) Weekley compares [[crane]] and other animal names for machines.^(Weekley 1921) ''To catch a crab'', to make a faulty stroke in rowing, is recorded from 1785;^(Etymonline) Weekley explains it as if a crab had seized the oar.^(Weekley 1921) The crab's sideways gait gave verbs: to drift to leeward (1867, in Smyth's ''Sailor's Word-Book''),^(OED 2026) and in aviation to fly at an angle to the line of flight to offset a crosswind (1929);^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) ''crabbing'', fishing for crabs, is from the 1650s.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The falconer's verb, of hawks that scratch and fight (1575),^(OED 2026) became slang and stable talk for running down or finding fault with someone (1819),^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) and since 1899 has also meant to spoil a scheme;^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire dialect it meant to scold or pull to pieces.^(Wright 1898) The noun for a complaint followed in 1893.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) In dialect ''crab-fish'' was the common crab, and ''crab-gaited'' meant walking sideways.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – the crustacean; the constellation Cancer.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1188 – as a surname.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1540s – ''crab-louse''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1575 – (falconry) of hawks, to claw and fight.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1631 – a small capstan.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1650s – ''crabbing'', fishing for crabs.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1785 – ''to catch a crab'' in rowing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1819 – (slang) to find fault with, criticize.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1840 – a crab louse.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)

+ * 1893 – noun, a complaint.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1929 – (aviation) to fly at an angle to offset drift.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[crustacean]] with a broad flat [[shell]], a short tail folded under the body, and a front pair of legs formed as [[pincer|alt=pincers]]; the flesh of such an animal eaten as food.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A [[crab louse]]; in the plural, an infestation of crab lice.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A machine for hoisting or hauling heavy weights, such as a small [[capstan]] or the travelling hoist of a [[crane]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''the Crab'': the constellation and zodiac sign [[Cancer]].^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+ # (informal) A complaint; an objection.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fish for or catch crabs.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To move sideways or at an angle, like a crab: ''The skier crabbed slowly up the slope.''^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) In aviation, to head an aircraft into a crosswind so that it does not drift.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (informal) To find fault with; to [[grumble]] or [[complain]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (informal) To spoil or obstruct a plan or deal.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (falconry) Of hawks, to claw and fight each other.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[crabber]]

+ * [[crablike]]

+ * [[crabwise]]

+ * [[crab louse]]

+ * [[crabmeat]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|wild apple}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=c. 1300, crabbe}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The wild apple is [[m|enm|crabbe]], of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Some take it as a figurative use of the animal's name, comparing its awkward, contrary nature with the sour fruit;^(Barnhart 1995)^(Ayto 2005)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) others connect it with [[sco|scrab]], recorded in Scots from the early 16th century, and dialectal [[sv|skrabba|t=wild apple]], which may be the original form, later assimilated to the animal's name or to [[crabbed]].^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(Weekley 1921)^(Ayto 2005) Etymonline compares [[sv|krabbäpple]].^(Etymonline)^(Partridge 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The fruit of the wild apple tree: about 1300 in Etymonline and before 1300 in Barnhart, with place names from the mid-13th century;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) the OED's earliest quotations are c1425 for the tree and c1450 for the fruit.^(OED 2026) Weekley argued from the common Yorkshire surname ''Crabtree'' that the word must be centuries older than its first recorded use.^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sourness of the fruit gave ''crab'' as a name for a sour person, recorded from 1574;^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995) the OED notes that later uses for a crabbed, ill-tempered person are often a back-formation from [[crabbed]], and might come from the animal.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun is in general dialect use in Scotland and England for a sour, disagreeable person.^(Wright 1898) Johnson (1755) used the word as an adjective for any sour or degenerate fruit, as a ''crab cherry''.^(Johnson 1755) A walking stick or cudgel of crab-tree wood is a ''crab'' from 1740,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and ''crab apple'' itself is recorded by 1712.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) In Cheshire the people of Mobberley were nicknamed ''Mobberley Crabs''.^(Wright 1898) The adjective [[crabby]] meant crooked or gnarled in 1550, and peevish from 1776.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-13th century – in place names.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – ''crabbe'', the wild apple.^(Etymonline)

+ * c1425 – the wild apple tree.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1574 – a sour person.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1712 – ''crab apple''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1740 – a cudgel of crab-tree wood.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[crab apple]], a small sour wild [[apple]]; also, the tree that bears it.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A [[sour]], ill-tempered person; a [[grouch]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (archaic) A walking stick or cudgel of crab-tree wood.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[crab apple]]

+ * [[crabby]]

+ * [[crabstick]]

+ * [[crabtree]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[crabbed]]

+ * [[crayfish]]

+ * [[carve]]

+ * [[cancer]]

+ * [[crawl]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}