Where does “crowbar” come from?
Crowbar derives from English bar, from French barre, from Ancient Greek βαρύς meaning "heavy," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰerH-.
crowbar (English): An iron or steel bar, often with a flattened end...
Definitions
- An iron or steel bar, often with a flattened end...
Ancestry of “crowbar”, step by step
crowbar traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English bar
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bar | A solid, more or less rigid object of metal or... |
| 2 | French | barre | bar, cake, ingot; Clipping of barre oblique: the... |
| 3 | Middle French | barre | bar |
| 4 | Old French | barre | bar |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | barra | barrier |
| 6 | Frankish | bara | bar, beam, barrier, fence |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | barō | beam, bar, barrier |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰerH- | to pierce; to strike; brown |
via English crow
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | crow | A bird, usually black, of the genus "Corvus",... |
| 2 | Middle English | crowe | crow; A metal bar or lever; a crowbar;... |
| 3 | Middle English | crowen | To crow; To make other noises typical of birds;... |
| 4 | Old English | crāwe | crow |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | krāā | crow |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | krēǭ | crow |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ger- | to turn, bend, twist, wind; to tie, bind... |