crokeʒ

n. (pl.)

‘sickles’

(Modern English crook)

Etymology

Usually derived from ON, cp. OIcel krókr ‘hook, anything crooked’. The late attestation of the OE adj. gecrōcod (adj.) 'crooked, bent' and the lack of cognates in other Gmc languages may indicate that it is to be associated with ME crōken, a denominal v. (see SPS 109 and further croked). There are possible Ablaut variants including OIcel kraki ‘stake, boat-hook’ and hence OHG kracko, krahho ‘hook’ (on which see e.g. Orel s.v. *krakōn), and more speculatively OE crycc ‘crutch, staff’ (cp. OS krukkia, OHG krucka; thus AEW).

PGmc Ancestor

?*krōk-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

krókr ‘hook, anything crooked’
(ONP krókr (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far krókur, Icel krókur, Norw krôk, Dan krog, Sw krok

OE Cognate

cp. gecrōcod (adj.) 'crooked, bent'

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

BB2b

Attestation

Common and widespread throughout ME.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Pe 40

Bibliography

MED crōk (n.)[ http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=id&id=MED10406&egs=all&egdisplay=open], OED crook (n. and adj.)[ http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/44743?isAdvanced=false&result=4&rskey=VeJg5h&], HTOED , EDD crook (sb.1, adj. and v.), Bj. 248, SPS 109, 287, de Vries krókr, Mag. krókur, AEW cryce, DOE gecrōcod, EPNE *crōc; krókr