Etymology
1. c.1200,
crewlen, from a Scand. source, perhaps O.N.
krafla "to claw (one's way)." If there was an O.E.
*craflian, it has not been recorded. Swimming sense is from 1903, the stroke developed by Frederick Cavill, well-known English swimmer who emigrated to Australia and modified the standard stroke of the day after observing South Seas islanders. So called because the swimmer's motion in the water resembles crawling.
2. From Middle English crawlen, crewlen, creulen, crallen, *cravelen, from Old Norse krafla (compare Danish kravle (“to crawl, creep”), Swedish kravla, kräla (“to creep, crawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *krablōną (compare Saterland Frisian krabbelje, Dutch krabbelen, German Low German krabbeln, German krabbeln), frequentative of *krabbōną (“to scratch, scrape”). Compare also Saterland Frisian krauelje (“to crawl, scuttle”), West Frisian kreauwelje (“to crawl”), Dutch krevelen, krieuwelen (“to crawl”), German Low German kribbeln, German kribbeln (“to creep, crawl, tingle”). See also crab, crabble. See: Danish '
kravle', Swedish '
kravla', Proto-Germanic '
*krabblōną', Frisian, Saterlandic 'krabbelje', Dutch '
krabbelen', German, old spelling '
krabbeln', Frisian, Saterlandic 'krauelje', Dutch '
krevelen', German, old spelling '
kribbeln'.
Verbs referencing "crawl"
English
crabble, Cimbrian khrabalan.