Online Etymology Dictionary

crowbar (n.): 1748, with bar (n.1), earlier simply crow (c.1400); so called from its "beak" or from resemblance to a crow's foot; or possibly it is from crows, from Old French cros, plural of croc "hook."
crowd (v.): Old English crudan "to press, crush." Cognate with Middle Dutch cruden "to press, push," Middle High German kroten "to press, oppress," Norwegian kryda "to crowd." Related: Crowded; crowding.
crowd (n.): 1560s, from crowd (v.). The earlier word was press (n.).
crown (v.): late 12c., from Old French coroner, from corone (see crown (n.)). Related: Crowned; crowning. The latter in its sense of "that makes complete" is from 1650s.
crown (n.): early 12c., "royal crown," from Anglo-French coroune, Old French corone (13c., Modern French couronne), from Latin corona "crown," originally "wreath, garland," related to Greek korone "anything curved, kind of crown." Old English used corona, directly from Latin.

Extended to coins bearing the imprint of a crown (early 15c.), especially the British silver 5-shilling piece. Also monetary units in Iceland, Sweden (krona), Norway, Denmark (krone), and formerly in German Empire and Austria-Hungary (krone). Meaning "top of the skull" is from c.1300. Crown-prince is 1791, a translation of German kronprinz.
crozier (n.): late 13c., from Old French crocier, from Medieval Latin crociarius "bearer of a cross," from crocia "cross;" also from Old French croisier "one who bears or has to do with a cross" (see cross (n.)). The two words merged in Middle English. Technically, "the bearer of a bishop's pastoral staff;" erroneously applied to the staff itself since 1733.
cru (n.): from French cru "vineyard," literally "growth" (16c.), from Old French crois (12c.; Modern French croît), from croiss-, stem of croistre "growth, augment, increase," ultimately from Latin crescere "come forth, spring up, grow, thrive" (see crescent).
crucial (adj.): 1706, "cross-shaped," from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the knee (which cross each other), from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "cross" (see cross (n.)). The meaning "decisive, critical" (1830) is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.
cruciate (adj.): "cross-shaped," from Modern Latin cruciatus, from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "cross" (see cross (n.)). Obsolete meaning "tormented" is 1530s, from Latin cruciat-, past participle stem of cruciare "cause pain or anguish to," literally "crucify," from crux.
crucible (n.): early 15c., from Medieval Latin crucibulum "melting pot for metals," originally "night lamp." First element might be Middle High German kruse "earthen pot." Or perhaps it is from Latin crux on some fancied resemblance to a cross. Used of any severe test or trial since 1640s.
cruciferous (adj.): 1650s, from Late Latin crucifer "cross-bearing," from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "stake, cross" (see cross (n.)). Originally in literal senses; botanical use (in reference to a symmetrical arrangement of four petals) is from 1851.
crucifix (n.): early 13c., from Old French crucefix (12c., Modern French crucifix), from Latin cruci fixus "(one) fixed to the cross" (see crucify).
crucifixion (n.): early 15c., from Late Latin crucifixionem (nominative crucifixio), noun of action from past participle stem of crucifigere "kill by crucifixion; fasten to a cross" (see crucify).
cruciform (adj.): 1660s, from Modern Latin cruciformis, from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "stake, cross" (see cross (n.)) + forma "form" (see form (n.)).
crucify (v.): c.1300, from Old French crucifer (12c., Modern French crucifier), from Vulgar Latin *crucificare, from Late Latin crucifigere "to fasten to a cross," from cruci, dative of Latin crux "cross" (see cross (n.)) + figere "fasten" (see fix (v.)). An ancient mode of capital punishment considered especially ignominious by the Romans. Figurative sense of "to torment" is 1620s. Related: Crucified; crucifying.
cruciverbalist (n.): "maker of crossword puzzles," by 1990, coined in English from Latin cruci-, comb. form of crux "cross" (see cross (n.)) + verbum "word" (see verb).
crud (n.): "nonsense, rubbish," 1940, U.S. slang; originally 1920s army and college student slang for "venereal disease." Said to be a metathesis variant of curd, which actually makes it an unconscious return to the original Middle English form of that word (see curd). As G.I. name for "disease of any and every sort" it is attested from 1945.
crude (adj.): late 14c., "in a raw state," from Latin crudus "rough; not cooked, raw, bloody," from PIE *krue-do-, from PIE *kreue- (1) "raw flesh" (see raw). Meaning "lacking grace" is first attested 1640s. Related: Crudely; crudeness. Crude oil is from 1865.
crudites (n.): 1960, from French crudités, literally "raw things" (see crudity).
crudity (n.): early 14c., from Middle French crudité (14c.) and directly from Latin cruditatem (nominative cruditas), from crudus (see crude).
cruel (adj.): early 13c., from Old French cruel (12c.), earlier crudel, from Latin crudelis "rude, unfeeling; cruel, hard-hearted," related to crudus "rough, raw, bloody" (see crude). Related: Cruelly.
cruelty (n.): early 13c., from Old French crualté (12c., Modern French cruauté), from Latin crudelitatem (nominative crudelitas) "cruelty," from crudelis (see cruel).
cruet (n.): "small glass bottle for vinegar, oil, etc.," c.1300, Anglo-French diminutive of Old French crue "an earthen pot," from Frankish *kruka or some other Germanic source (cf. Old High German kruog); related to crock.
cruise (v.): 1650s, from Dutch kruisen "to cross, sail to and fro," from kruis "cross," from Latin crux; cf. the sense evolution in cognate cross (v.). Related: Cruised; cruising. As a noun from 1706.
cruiser (n.): 1670s, agent noun from cruise (v.), or, probably, borrowed from similar words in neighboring languages (e.g. Dutch kruiser, French croiseur), originally a warship built to cruise and protect commerce or chase hostile ships (but in 18c. often applied to privateers); meaning "one who cruises for sex partners" is from 1903, in later use mostly of homosexuals; as a boxing weight class, from 1920; meaning "police patrol car" is 1929, American English.
cruller (n.): 1805, American English, apparently from Dutch kruller, from krullen "to curl," from Middle Dutch crullen, related to curl.
crumb (n.): Old English cruma "crumb, fragment," from a West Germanic root of obscure origin (cf. Middle Dutch crume, Dutch kruim, German krume). The -b- appeared mid-15c., in part by analogy with words like dumb, in part from crumble. Slang meaning "lousy person" is 1918, from crumb, U.S. slang for "body-louse" (1863), so called from resemblance.
crumble (v.): late 15c., kremelen, from Old English *crymelan, presumed frequentative of gecrymman "to break into crumbs," from cruma (see crumb). The -b- is 16c., probably on analogy of French-derived words like humble, where it belongs, or by influence of crumb. Related: Crumbled; crumbling.
crumby (adj.): 1731, "full of crumbs," from crumb + -y (2). Overlapping somewhat with crummy, but generally restricted to the more literal senses.
crummy (adj.): 1560s, "easily crumbled;" 1570s, "like bread," from crumb + -y (2). The second sense probably accounts for 18c. (and later in dialects) use, of a woman, "attractively plump, full-figured, buxom." Slang meaning "shoddy, filthy, inferior, poorly made" in use by 1859, probably is from the first sense, but influenced by crumb in its slang sense of "louse."
crumpet (n.): 1690s, perhaps from crompid cake "wafer," literally "curled-up cake" (1382; Wyclif's rendering of Hebrew raqiq in Ex. 29:23), from crompid, past participle of crumpen "curl up." Alternative etymology is from Celtic (cf. Breton krampoez "thin, flat cake"). Slang meaning "woman regarded as a sex object" is first recorded 1936.
crumple (v.): c.1300, crumplen, frequentative of crumpen "to curl up" (from Old English crump "bent, crooked"). Related: Crumpled; crumpling.
crunch (v.): 1814, from craunch (1630s), probably of imitative origin. Related: Crunched; crunching. The noun is 1836, from the verb; the sense of "critical moment" was popularized 1939 by Winston Churchill, who had used it in his 1938 biography of Marlborough.
crunchy (adj.): 1892, from crunch + -y (2). Student slang sense of "annoyingly intense about health or environmental issues" is by 1990, short for crunchy granola (considered as natural and wholesome); not entirely pejorative at first. Related: Crunchiness.
crunk (n.): by 1999, style of popular music developed in U.S. South in 1990s; often said to be a contraction of crazy drunk. It was used early in a sense of "cool, good."
crusade (n.): 1706, respelling of croisade (1570s), from Middle French croisade (16c.), Spanish cruzada, both from Medieval Latin cruciata, past participle of cruciare "to mark with a cross," from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "cross." Other Middle English forms were croiserie, creiserie. Figurative sense of "campaign against a public evil" is from 1786.
crusade (v.): 1732, from crusade (n.). Related: Crusaded; crusading.
crusader (n.): 1743, from crusade + -er (1). Earlier was croisader, from French croisadeur.
cruse (n.): "small vessel for liquids," early 15c., perhaps related to Old Norse krus "pot, tankard," from a general Germanic root of unknown origin. Cf. Middle Dutch cruese, Dutch kroes "cup, pot, mug," Middle Low German krus, Danish krus "mug, jug," German Krause "jug, mug."
crush (v.): mid-14c., from Old French cruissir (Modern French écraser), variant of croissir "to gnash (teeth), crash, break," perhaps from Frankish *krostjan "to gnash" (cf. Gothic kriustan, Old Swedish krysta "to gnash"). Figurative sense of "to humiliate, demoralize" is c.1600. Related: Crushed; crushing. Italian crosciare, Catalan cruxir, Spanish crujirare "to crack" are Germanic loan-words.
crush (n.): 1590s, "act of crushing," from crush (v.). Meaning "thick crowd" is from 1806. Sense of "person one is infatuated with" is first recorded 1884; to have a crush on is from 1913.
crust (v.): late 14c.; see crust (n.). Related: Crusted; crusting.
crust (n.): early 14c., "hard outer part of bread," from Old French crouste (13c., Modern French croûte) and directly from Latin crusta "rind, crust, shell, bark," from PIE *krus-to- "that which has been hardened," from root *kreus- "to begin to freeze, form a crust" (cf. Sanskrit krud- "make hard, thicken;" Avestan xruzdra- "hard;" Greek krystallos "ice, crystal," kryos "icy cold, frost;" Lettish kruwesis "frozen mud;" Old High German hrosa "ice, crust;" Old English hruse "earth;" Old Norse hroðr "scurf"). Meaning "outer shell of the earth" is from 1550s.
Crustacea (n.): 1814, Modern Latin neuter plural of crustaceus (animalia), literally "having a crust or shell," from Latin crusta "crust, rind, bark, hard shell" (see crust (n.)). Taken as a zoological classification by Lamarck, 1801; Cuvier (1798) had les insectes crustacées.
crustacean (n.): 1835, from Crustacea the class name. As an adjective, 1858 (earlier was crustaceous, 1640s).
crustation (n.): mid-17c., noun of action from crust (v.).
crusty (adj.): c.1400, from crust (n.) + -y (2). Figurative use, of persons, "short-tempered," is from 1560s.
crutch (n.): Old English crycce "crutch, staff," from Proto-Germanic *krukjo (cf. Old Saxon krukka, Middle Dutch crucke, Old High German krucka, German Kröcke "crutch," related to Old Norse krokr "hook;" see crook). Figurative sense is first recorded c.1600. As a verb, from 1640s. Italian gruccia "crutch," crocco "hook" are Germanic loan-words.
crux (n.): 1814, "cross," from Latin crux "cross" (see cross (n.)). Figurative use for "a central difficulty," is older, from 1718; perhaps from Latin crux interpretum "a point in a text that is impossible to interpret," in which the literal sense is something like "crossroads of interpreters." Extended sense of "central point" is from 1888.
cry (v.): early 13c., "beg, implore," from Old French crier, from Vulgar Latin *critare, from Latin quiritare "to wail, shriek" (source of Italian gridare, Old Spanish cridar, Spanish and Portuguese gritar), of uncertain origin; perhaps a variant of quirritare "to squeal like a pig," from *quis, echoic of squealing, despite ancient folk etymology that traces it to "call for the help of the Quirites," the Roman constabulary. The meaning was extended 13c. to weep, which it largely replaced by 16c. Related: Cried; crying.

Most languages, in common with English, use the general word for "cry out, shout, wail" to also mean "weep, shed tears to express pain or grief." Romance and Slavic, however, use words for this whose ultimate meaning is "beat (the breast)," cf. French pleurer, Spanish llorar, both from Latin plorare "cry aloud," but probably originally plodere "beat, clap the hands." Also Italian piangere (cognate with French plaindre "lament, pity") from Latin plangere, originally "beat," but especially of the breast, as a sign of grief. U.S. colloquial for crying out loud is 1924, probably another euphemism for for Christ's sake.