crote

See also: crôte

Middle English

Alternative forms

  • crot, croote, krote, krotte

Etymology

Uncertain. The Middle English Dictionary notes that usage is primarily Northern, and suggests that the word is likely of Scandinavian origin;[1] compare Old Norse krota (“metal ornament”). The Oxford English Dictionary compares French crotte (“excrement”) and Dutch krot (“mud”), but notes that it is difficult to connect either to crote by meaning or history.[2]

Noun

crote (plural crotes)

  1. a piece (of something), a particle [14th and 15th century]
    • 1338, Robert Manning, edited by Frederick J. Furnivall, The story of England by Robert Manning of Brunne, AD 1338, published 1887, page 75:
      & to bataille swyþe þey sette.
      Þe kyng was slayn þer wiþ a schote,
      Þe host destruyed ilk a crote
      Swiftly they set to battle. / The king was killed with a shot, / Every piece of the army destroyed

Descendants

  • Scots: crote, crottle

References

  1. ^ “crōt(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “crot, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

Scots

Noun

crote (plural crotes)

  1. archaic form of crottle
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