Etymology
1. Late Middle English, also attested as craue, from or related to Old Norse *kravi (“neck, collar, gullet, crop of a bird”), of unclear origin (potentially cognate to crop), but historically a variation of kragi, the Norse analog of English crag. If craw and crag are cognates, then ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic *kragô or Proto-West Germanic *kragō (“throat”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gʷrogʰ- or *gʷrh₃-gʰ- (“throat, gullet”), whence also Proto-Celtic *brāgants (“throat, gullet”) and perhaps Ancient Greek βρόχθος (brókhthos, “throat”). The root appears to be an extension of Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to swallow, devour”), though the identity and meaning of the suffix is unclear. Compare Latin gurges (“gulf, bay; whirlpool, eddy”).
2. Other Germanic cognates include Swedish kräva (“crop of a bird”), Danish krave (“collar, crop of a bird”); Dutch kraag, Middle Dutch crāghe, Old Dutch kraga; German Kragen, Middle Low German krage, Middle High German krage, Old High German krago (“collar, neck”).
3. See also crag (Etymology 2). See: English '
crag', Swedish '
kräva', Danish '
krave', German, old spelling '
Kragen'.