Where does “crab stick” come from?
crab stick (English) comes from English crab, from English carabiner, from German Karabinerhaken, from German Karabiner, from French carabine, from French carabin, from French escarrabin, from Middle French scarabée — a kind of beetle, probably a longhorn beetle; a...
crab stick (English): A cudgel, originally made of the wood of a crabapple tree, hence any similar club
Definitions
- A cudgel, originally made of the wood of a crabapple tree, hence any similar club
Ancestry of “crab stick”, step by step
crab stick traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English crab
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | crab | A crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having... |
| 2 | English | carabiner | A metal link with a gate that can open and close,... |
| 3 | German | Karabinerhaken | carabiner, snap hook, snap-link |
| 4 | German | Karabiner | carbine; Karabinerhaken: carabiner |
| 5 | French | carabine | rifle; mistress of a cavalry soldier |
| 6 | French | carabin | carabineer; medical student |
| 7 | French | escarrabin | grave digger |
| 8 | Middle French | scarabée | beetle |
| 9 | Latin | scarabaeus | A scarab, black dung beetle, revered in Ancient... |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | κάραβος | a kind of beetle, probably a longhorn beetle; a... |