- crochet (v.)
- 1858, from crochet (n.). Related: Crocheted; crocheting.
- crochet (n.)
- 1840, from French crochet (12c.), diminutive of croc "hook," from Old Norse krokr "hook" (see crook). So called for the hooked needle used.
- crocket (n.)
- c. 1300, "curl of hair," from Anglo-French crocket, from northern French form of French crochet (see crochet). Meaning "ornamental device on a Gothic pediment" is from late 14c.
- crotchet (n.)
- late 14c., "crocket," later "small hook" (early 15c.), from Old French crochet (pronounced "crotchet") "hook" (see crochet). As a surgical instrument, from 1750. Figurative use in musical notation is from mid-15c., from the shape of the notes. Meaning "whimsical fancy" is from 1570s; perhaps from the same mechanical image in crank; but other authorities link this sense to the musical notation one.
- crouch (v.)
- late 14c., probably from Old French crochir "become bent, crooked," from croche "hook" (see crochet). Related: Crouched; crouching. As a noun, from 1590s.
- crotch (n.)
- 1530s, original meaning "pitchfork," from Old North French croche "shepherd's crook," variant of croc "hook" (see crochet); meaning "region where the body forks" is 1590s.
- hook (n.)
- "bent or angled piece of metal or other substance used to catch or hold something," Old English hoc "hook, angle," perhaps related to Old English haca "bolt," from Proto-Germanic *hokaz/*hakan (source also of Old Frisian hok, Middle Dutch hoek "a hook;" Dutch haak "a hook, angle, corner, cape," German Haken "hook"), from PIE *keg- "hook, tooth" (source also of Russian kogot "claw"). For spelling, see hood (n.1).
Also the name of a fireman's tool for tearing into buildings, hence hook-and-ladder (1821). Meaning "holder for a telephone receiver" is from 1885 and continued in use after the mechanism evolved. Boxing sense of "short, swinging blow with the elbow bent" is from 1898. Figurative sense "that which catches, a snare, trap" is from early 15c. Meaning "projecting point of land" is from 1670s; in U.S. use probably reinforced by the Dutch word.
This name is given in New York to several angular points in the North and East rivers; as Corlear's Hook, Sandy Hook, Powles's Hook. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]
Off the hooks meant "disordered" (16c.), "unhinged" (1610s) and "dead" (1840). By hook or by crook (late 14c.) probably alludes to tools of professional thieves. Hook, line, and sinker "completely" is 1838, a metaphor from angling. Hook-nose (n.) is from 1680s; hook-nosed (adj.) from 1510s. Hook-and-eye as a method of garment fastening is from 1620s.
Hook and eye, a metallic fastening for garments, consisting of a hook, commonly of flattened wire bent to the required shape, and an eye, usually of the same material, into which the hook fits. Under the name of crochet and loop, this form of fastening was in use as early as the fourteenth century. [Century Dictionary]
- chelicerae (n.)
- 1831, plural of Modern Latin chelicera, from Greek khele "crab claw, talon, pincers; cloven hoof of cattle, horse's hoof," metaphorically "surgical forceps, hooked needle, crochet needle, notch of an arrow," a word of uncertain origin with no agreement on ulterior connections. Earlier chelicer (1835), from French chélicère.
