Etymology of creep

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

verb

To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground. · To grow across a surface rather than upwards. · To move slowly and quietly in a particular direction. · To make small gradual changes, usually in a particular direction.

noun

The movement of something that creeps (like worms or snails). · A relatively small gradual change, variation or deviation (from a planned value) in a measure. · A slight displacement of an object; the slight movement of something. · The gradual expansion or proliferation of something beyond its original goals or boundaries, considered negatively.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English crepen, from Old English crēopan (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-West Germanic *kreupan, from Proto-Germanic *kreupaną (“to twist, creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ- (“to turn, wind”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian krûpe (“to creep, crawl”), Central Franconian kruffe (“to creep, crawl”), Dutch kruipen (“to creep, crawl”), Low German krepen, krupen (“to creep, crawl”), Danish krybe (“to creep”), Faroese krúpa (“to creep”), Icelandic krjúpa (“to kneel down, to genuflect, to get down on one's knees”), Norwegian Bokmål krype (“to creep”), Norwegian Nynorsk krjupa, krjupe, krypa, krype (“to creep, crawl”), Swedish krypa (“to creep, crawl”). The noun is derived from the verb. Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *kreupaną Proto-West Germanic *kreupan Old English crēopan Middle English crepen English creep

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentioncrepenenm
Inherited-form mentioncrēopanang · to creep, crawl
Inherited-form mention*kreupangmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*kreupanągem-pro · to twist, creep
Derivation mention*grewbʰ-ine-pro · to turn, wind
Cognate mentionkrûpefy · to creep, crawl
Cognate mentionkruffegmw-cfr · to creep, crawl
Cognate mentionkruipennl · to creep, crawl
Cognate mentionkrepennds
Cognate mentionkrybeda · to creep
Cognate mentionkrúpafo · to creep
Cognate mentionkrjúpais · to kneel down, to genuflect, to get down on one's knees
Cognate mentionkrypenb · to creep
Cognate mentionkrjupann
Cognate mentionkrypasv · to creep, crawl

This page abbreviates 12 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "crepen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English crepen"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "crēopan",
        "t": "to creep, crawl"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English crēopan (“to creep, crawl”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*kreupan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *kreupan"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*kreupaną",
        "t": "to twist, creep"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *kreupaną (“to twist, creep”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*grewbʰ-",
        "t": "to turn, wind"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ- (“to turn, wind”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "krûpe",
        "t": "to creep, crawl"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian krûpe (“to creep, crawl”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-cfr",
        "2": "kruffe",
        "t": "to creep, crawl"
      },
      "expansion": "Central Franconian kruffe (“to creep, crawl”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "kruipen",
        "t": "to creep, crawl"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch kruipen (“to creep, crawl”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "krepen"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German krepen"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "krybe",
        "t": "to creep"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish krybe (“to creep”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "krúpa",
        "t": "to creep"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese krúpa (“to creep”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "krjúpa",
        "t": "to kneel down, to genuflect, to get down on one's knees"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic krjúpa (“to kneel down, to genuflect, to get down on one's knees”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb",
        "2": "krype",
        "t": "to creep"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål krype (“to creep”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "krjupa"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk krjupa"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "krypa",
        "t": "to creep, crawl"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish krypa (“to creep, crawl”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:crepen<id:creep>",
        "id": "move slowly",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der.\nProto-Germanic *kreupaną\nProto-West Germanic *kreupan\nOld English crēopan\nMiddle English crepen\nEnglish creep\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"?\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"redlink\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*grewbʰ-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*kreupaną\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*kreupan\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"crēopan\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"crepen\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"creep\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"move slowly\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"creep\" id=\"English:_move_slowly\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:crepen<id:creep>",
        "id": "move slowly",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der.\nProto-Germanic *kreupaną\nProto-West Germanic *kreupan\nOld English crēopan\nMiddle English crepen\nEnglish creep"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "crepen",
      "crepen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "crēopan",
      "creopan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*kreupan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kreupan"
    ],
    [
      "*kreupaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kreupaną"
    ],
    [
      "*grewbʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/grewbʰ-"
    ],
    [
      "krûpe",
      "krûpe#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "kruffe",
      "kruffe#Central_Franconian"
    ],
    [
      "kruipen",
      "kruipen#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "krepen",
      "krepen#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "krupen",
      "krupen#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "krybe",
      "krybe#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "krúpa",
      "krúpa#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "krjúpa",
      "krjúpa#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "krype",
      "krype#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "krjupa",
      "krjupa#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "krjupe",
      "krjupe#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "krypa",
      "krypa#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "krype",
      "krype#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "krypa",
      "krypa#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "*grewbʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/grewbʰ-#Proto-Indo-European:_?"
    ],
    [
      "*kreupaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kreupaną#Proto-Germanic:_creep"
    ],
    [
      "*kreupan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kreupan#Proto-West_Germanic:_creep"
    ],
    [
      "crēopan",
      "creopan#Old_English:_creep"
    ],
    [
      "crepen",
      "crepen#Middle_English:_creep"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground.",
        "To grow across a surface rather than upwards.",
        "To move slowly and quietly in a particular direction.",
        "To make small gradual changes, usually in a particular direction."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
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    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The movement of something that creeps (like worms or snails).",
        "A relatively small gradual change, variation or deviation (from a planned value) in a measure.",
        "A slight displacement of an object; the slight movement of something.",
        "The gradual expansion or proliferation of something beyond its original goals or boundaries, considered negatively."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "recordId": "7822f051332459b171fc4e5b1533545555e1ab94b747924f7b73b2b792f098c2",
      "rawRecordSha256": "71bc3b511daa9d430a84f5a2a006ddf0381d321b1265a86886fb143180836191",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 30332
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 12,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

The source etymologies

Unnumbered source etymology

Relationships mentioned by the source

Where this record stops

Source and snapshot