Masculine

Krebs

Meaning

Concepts

(masculine, strong) crustacean, crab, crayfish
(masculine, strong) cancer (disease)
(masculine, strong) Cancer

Frequency

Basel-Landschaft

gräbs

St. Gallen

galoppiarandì uuszeerìg

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kʁeːps/

Inherited from Middle High German

Inherited from Old High German

Cognate with Prussian

Cognate with Church Slavic

Cognate with Ancient Greek

Cognate with Dutch

In summary

From Middle High German krebz, krebez, krebeze, from Old High German crebiz, krebiz, from Proto-West Germanic *krabit, from Proto-Germanic *krabitaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch”), see also Old Prussian gīrbin (“number”), Old Church Slavonic жрѣбии (žrěbii, “lot, tallymark”), Ancient Greek γράφειν (gráphein, “to scratch, etch”), Dutch kreeft. The sense “cancer” is a semantic loan from Latin cancer. By metathesis from Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab”); applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab. Compare Krabbe, English crab.