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Origin and history of crew

crew(n.)

mid-15c., "group of soldiers sent as reinforcements" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French crue, creue "an increase, recruit, military reinforcement," from fem. past participle of creistre "to grow," from Latin crescere "to arise, grow" (from PIE root *ker- (2) "to grow"). Compare accrue.

Meaning "any company of people" is from 1570s; that of "group of people engaged upon a particular work" is attested by 1690s. Sense of "company of seamen who man a ship, vessel, or boat, common sailors of a ship's company" is from 1690s. Crew-cut hairstyle first attested 1938, so called because the style originally was adopted by boat crews at Harvard and Yale.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to crew

accrue(v.)

formerly also accrew, mid-15c., acreuen, in reference to property, etc., "to fall to someone as an addition or increment," from Old French acreue "growth, increase, what has grown," fem. of acreu, past participle of acreistre (Modern French accroître) "to increase," from Latin accrescere "grow progressively, increase, become greater," from ad "to" (see ad-) + crescere "grow" (from PIE root *ker- (2) "to grow"). Related: Accrued; accruing.

Apparently an English verb from a French noun because there is no English noun to go with it until much later (the earliest seems to be now-obsolete accrue, 1570s), unless the record is defective. From late 15c. as "happen or result as a natural growth;" from 1881 as "gain by increment, accumulate." Alternative verb accrete "grow by adhesion" (1784) is rare, as is accresce (1630s), from Latin accrescere.

*ker-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grow."

It might form all or part of: accretion; accrue; cereal; Ceres; concrete; create; creation; creature; Creole; crescendo; crescent; crew (n.) "group of soldiers;" croissant; cru; decrease; Dioscuri; excrescence; excrescent; griot; increase; Kore; procerity; procreate; procreation; recreate; recreation; recruit; sincere.

It might also be the source of: Greek kouros "boy," korē "girl;" Latin crescere "come forth, spring up, grow, thrive, swell," Ceres, goddess of agriculture, creare "to bring forth, create, produce;" Armenian serem "bring forth," serim "be born."

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    gang
    from Old English gang "a going, journey, way, passage," and Old Norse gangr "a group of men, a set," both from Proto-Germanic *gangaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Danish, Dutch, Old High German, German gang, Old Norse gangr, Gothic gagg "act of going"), of uncertain or
    crowd
    Old English crudan "to press, crush." Cognate with Middle Dutch cruden, Dutch kruijen "to press, push," Middle High German kroten "to press, oppress," Norwegian kryda "to crowd." Related: Crowded; crowding....1560s, "large group of persons, multitude," from crowd (v.). The earlie
    minke
    The name minke is said to have derived from one of Svend Foyn's crew by the name of Meincke, who mistook a school of these...
    men
    "One end of this [cook and dining] room is partitioned off for a men's room, where the crew sit evenings, smoking, reading...For many years women have been employed in [logging] camps as cooks, hence the name men's room, for the crew are not allowed...
    spell
    meaning shifted toward "continuous course of work or duty" (1706), probably via shift work (as at sea) where one man or crew...
    swab
    The slang meaning "a sailor" is attested by 1798, is short for swabber "member of a ship's crew assigned to swab decks" (...
    squad
    1640s, "small number of military men detailed for some purpose," from French esquade, from French escadre, from Spanish escuadra or Italian squadra "battalion," literally "square," from Vulgar Latin *exquadra "to square." This is from Latin ex "out" (see ex-) + quadrare "make squ
    tame
    c. 1200, of persons, "in a state of subjection, physically subdued, restrained in behavior;" mid-13c., of animals, "domesticated, reclaimed from wildness," also, of persons, "meek, gentle-natured, compliant, intent on homely or domestic activities," from oblique forms of Old Engl
    team
    Old English team "descendant, family, race, line; child-bearing, brood; company, band; set of draft animals yoked together," from Proto-Germanic *tau(h)maz (source also of Old Norse taumr, Old Frisian tam "bridle; progeny, line of descent," Dutch toom, Old High German zoum, Germa

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