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Origin and history of craft

craft(n.)

Old English cræft (West Saxon, Northumbrian), -creft (Kentish), "power, physical strength, might," from Proto-Germanic *krab-/*kraf- (source also of Old Frisian kreft, Old High German chraft, German Kraft "strength, skill;" Old Norse kraptr "strength, virtue"). The ultimate etymology is uncertain.

The sense expanded in Old English to include "skill, dexterity; art, science, talent" (via a notion of "mental power"), which led by late Old English to the meaning "trade, handicraft, employment requiring special skill or dexterity," also "something built or made." The word still was used for "might, power" in Middle English.

The meaning "small boat" is recorded by 1670s, probably from a phrase similar to vessels of small craft and referring either to the trade they did or the seamanship they required, or perhaps it preserves the word in its original sense of "power."

craft(v.)

Old English cræftan "to exercise a craft; to build," from the same source as craft (n.). Meaning "to make skilfully" is from early 15c., obsolete from 16c., but revived by 1954, largely in U.S. advertising and commercial senses. Related: Crafted; crafting.

Entries linking to craft

aircraft(n.)

"craft or vessel which navigates through the air," 1850, air-craft, in the writings of John Wise, originally in reference to balloons, from air (n.1) + craft (n.). An image from boating, as were many early aviation words. Of airplanes from 1907 and since 1930s exclusively of them. Aircraft carrier is attested from 1919, in reference to H.M.S. Hermes, launched September 1919, the first ship built from the hull up as an aircraft carrier.

craftsman(n.)

c. 1200, craftmonnen (plural); late 14c., craftise men, "one skilled in a manual occupation," from genitive of craft (n.) + man (n.1). Written as one word from late 14c. Old English had cræftiga in this sense. Craftswoman is recorded from 1886; craftsperson from 1904; craftspeople from 1856.

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Trends of craft

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

crafty
mid-12c., crafti, "skillful, clever, learned," from Old English cræftig "strong, powerful," later "skillful, ingenious," acquiring after c. 1200 a bad sense of "cunning, sly, skillful in scheming," the main modern sense (but through 15c. also "skillfully done or made; intelligent
crave
Old English crafian "ask, implore, demand by right," from North Germanic *krabojan (source also of Old Norse krefja "to demand," Danish kræve, Swedish kräva); perhaps related to craft (n.) in its base sense of "power." Current sense "to long for, eagerly desire" is c. 1400, proba
witchcraft
Old English wiccecræft "witchcraft, magic," from wicce (see witch) + cræft "power, skill" (see craft). Witchcraft was declared a crime in English law in 1542, at the beginning of the Protestant era; trials there peaked in the 1580s and 1640s but fell sharply after 1660. The last,
technology
discourse or treatise on an art or the arts," from Latinized form of Greek tekhnologia "systematic treatment of an art, craft..., or technique," originally referring to grammar, from tekhno-, combining form of tekhnē "art, skill, craft in work; method..., system, an art, a system or method of making or doing," from PIE *teks-na- "craft" (of weaving or fabricating), from suffixed...
artifice
1530s, "workmanship, the making of something by craft or skill," from French artifice "skill, cunning" (14c.), from Latin...artificium "a profession, trade, employment, craft; a making by art; a work of art," from artifex (genitive artificis) "...
subtract
Here he teches þe Craft how þou schalt know, whan þou hast subtrayd, wheþer þou hast wel ydo or no....["Craft of Numbering," c. 1425]...
sophist
Latin sophistes is from Greek sophistēs "a master of one's craft; a wise or prudent man, one clever in matters of daily life...," from sophizesthai "to become wise or learned," from sophos "skilled in a handicraft, cunning in one's craft; clever in...
forge
late 14c., "a smithy," from Old French forge "forge, smithy" (12c.), earlier faverge, from Latin fabrica "workshop, smith's shop," hence also "a trade, an industry;" also "a skillful production, a crafty device," from faber (genitive fabri) "workman in hard materials, smith" (see
business
Old English bisignes (Northumbrian) "care, anxiety, occupation," from bisig "careful, anxious, busy, occupied, diligent" (see busy (adj.)) + -ness. The original sense is obsolete, as is the Middle English sense of "state of being much occupied or engaged" (mid-14c.), the latter r
class
c. 1600, "group of students," in U.S. especially "number of pupils in a school or college of the same grade," from French classe (14c.), from Latin classis "a class, a division; army, fleet," especially "any one of the six orders into which Servius Tullius divided the Roman peopl

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Dictionary entries near craft
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