cricket English · revision 5475

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkrɪk.ɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|insect}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1325|origins=fro criquer}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The insect is [[inh|enm|criket]], [[bor|fro|criquet|t=cricket, grasshopper]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|fro|criquer|t=to creak, rattle, crackle]], of imitative origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Dutch krekel and Low German Krekel are similar;^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) the Middle English Compendium takes the French word from Germanic.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The insect: about 1325 in the OED, before 1325 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) It is earlier as a surname, from 1198.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline notes that the earliest English uses refer to the fabulous fire-dwelling salamander.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline dates the plain insect sense to about 1500.^(Etymonline) ''As merry as a cricket'' is from 1592.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1198 – as a surname.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1325 – the insect.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1592 – ''as merry as a cricket''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A jumping [[insect]] like a [[grasshopper]], the males of which make a chirping sound by rubbing their wings together.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ {{homograph|2|game}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1598}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The game is of uncertain origin.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) It is perhaps [[bor|frm|criquet|t=goal stake in a game of bowls, stick]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) which may be from Middle Dutch cricke “stick, staff”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) related to but not the source of [[crutch]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) MWU suggests instead that criquet is from criquer “to crack”, for the sound of balls hitting the stakes.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The game: 1598 in the OED and Barnhart, in an official document in which a man of 59 swears that as a schoolboy he played cricket on a piece of land in Guildford, Surrey.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) MWU has 1575.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Early cricket was very different: the bats were like hockey sticks, the wicket had two stumps and one long bail, and the ball was rolled along the ground.^(Cresswell 2021) Cricket as it should be played, and so fair play, is from 1851, hence ''not cricket''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The verb, to play cricket, is from about 1809, in Byron's letters.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1598 – the game.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1809 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1851 – fair play.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A game played on a field by two teams of eleven, with a hard ball, [[bat|alt=bats]] and two [[wicket|alt=wickets]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal, dated)'' Fair and honourable behaviour: ''it's not cricket''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To play cricket.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cricketer]]

+ * [[crutch]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Cricket, a low wooden stool or footstool, is a third word, from the mid-17th century, of unknown origin; it is now dialectal.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}