English
crash
Crash comes from Middle English crasshen.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crasshen
- Englishearliest quotation 1945crash
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crasshen
- Englishearliest quotation 1945crash
Earliest quotation: 1945, Mario Pei, The American Road to Peace: A Constitution for the World: “And the unvarying lesson of history is that all…”
The story
Perhaps from a variant of earlier *crasken, from crasen (‘to break’) + -k (formative suffix); or from earlier *craskien, *craksien, a variant of craken (‘to crack, break open’) (for form development compare break, brask, brash).
Every English word from Middle English crasshen
Today it means
noun A sudden, intense, loud sound, as made for example by cymbals.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English crasshen / crash