English
crave
Crave comes from Middle English craven ‘to demand or claim’, and goes back to Old English crafian.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150crafian‘to crave, ask, implore, demand, summon’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500craven‘to demand or claim’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596-97crave
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150crafian‘to crave, ask, implore, demand, summon’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500craven‘to demand or claim’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596-97crave
Earliest quotation: c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *krafjaną ‘to demand’
Today it means
verb To desire strongly, so as to satisfy an appetite; to long or yearn for.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English crafian / crave