Crouch
/kraʊtʃ/noun
To stoop low or bend the body close to the ground.
Did you know?Its history is tangled through Old French and Germanic roots, and related forms show up in words for bending, hooking, and crouching in other European languages.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*krūkaną
“to bend, stoop, or curl”
Old French
OF
crouchir
“to crouch, stoop down”
Middle English
ME
crouchen
“to bend down or stoop”
16th Century
English
crouch
“to stoop low or bend down”
Modern English
English
crouch
“to bend the body low to the ground”