Crib
Old English (in the sense ‘manger’), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch krib, kribbe and German Krippe .
wiktionary
From Middle English crib, cribbe, from Old English crib, cryb, cribb, crybb(“couch, bed; manger, stall”), from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ(“crib, wickerwork”), from Proto-Indo-European *grebʰ-, *gerbʰ-(“bunch, bundle, tuft, clump”), from *ger-(“to turn, twist”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian creb(“crib”), West Frisian krêbe(“crib”), Dutch krib(“crib, manger”), German Krippe(“rack, crib”), Danish krybbe(“crib”), Icelandic krubba(“crib”). Doublet of crèche. The sense of ‘stealing, taking notes, plagiarize’ seems to have developed out of the verb.
The criminal sense may derive from the 'basket' sense, circa the mid 18th century, in that a poacher could conceal poachings in such a basket (see the 1772 Samuel Foote quotation). The cheating sense probably derives from the criminal sense. [1]
etymonline
crib (n.)
Old English cribbe "manger of a cattle stable, fodder bin in cowsheds and fields," from a West Germanic word (source also of Old Saxon kribbia "manger;" Old Frisian and Middle Dutch kribbe; Old High German krippa, German Krippe "crib, manger") probably related to German Krebe "basket."
Meaning "enclosed child's bed with barred sides" is 1640s; probably from frequent use in reference to the manger where infant Jesus was laid. Thieves' slang for "house, public house, shop" dates to at least 1812, but late 20c. slang use for "dwelling house" probably is independent. The Old High German version of the word passed to French and became creche.
crib (v.)
c. 1600, "to shut or confine in a crib," from crib (n.). Meaning "to steal" (1748) originally was thieves' slang, probably from the noun in a secondary sense of "a basket."
This also is the probable source of student slang meaning "plagiarize; translate by means of a 'crib' " (1778). Crib (n.) in the sense of "literal translation of a classical author for illegitimate use by students" (often a Greek work rendered word-for-word into Latin) is from 1827. The meaning "something taken without permission, a plagiarism" is from 1834. Related: Cribbed; cribbing.
