Crawdad
/ˈkrɔˌdæd/noun
A freshwater crustacean, especially a crayfish.
Did you know?Crawdad is a dialectal American form ultimately tied to the same old root as crayfish, with the first element likely reflecting an older word for the crustacean rather than anything magical or hidden.
Etymological Timeline
15th Century
Middle English
crevis
“Crayfish; a freshwater crustacean.”
16th Century
French
écrevisse
“Crayfish.”
Early Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*krabô / *krabbô
“Crab or similar crawling shellfish.”
18th–19th Century
English
crawfish
“A crayfish, especially in American and dialectal usage.”
19th Century
American English
crawdad
“Regional American term for a crayfish.”