English
crater
Crater comes from Latin crātēr ‘basin’, from Ancient Greek κρᾱτήρ ‘mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρᾱτήρkrātḗr‘mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātēr‘basin’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828crater
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρᾱτήρkrātḗr‘mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātēr‘basin’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828crater
Earliest quotation: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “In it large craters lie, And two-eared pitchers, all…”
The story
First coined 1613, from Latin crātēr (‘basin’), from Ancient Greek κρᾱτήρ (krātḗr, “mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-
horn, hart, cheer, corny, cerebral, migraine, cornea, carotid, cairn, cornet, cerebellum, cranium, procrastinate, cerebrum, keratin, rother, 52 more
through Latin crātēr ‘basin’
Today it means
noun A hemispherical pit created by the impact of a meteorite or other object.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- / crater