Crate
late Middle English: perhaps related to Dutch krat ‘tailboard of a wagon’, earlier ‘box of a coach’, of unknown origin.
wiktionary
From Dutch krat(“crate, large box, basket”), from Middle Dutch cratte(“basketware, mold”), from Old Dutch *kratta, *kratto(“basket”), from Proto-Germanic *kratjô, *krattijô(“basket”), from Proto-Indo-European *gred-, *gre(n)t-(“plaiting, wicker, basket, cradle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger-(“to bind, twist, wind”). Cognate with West Frisian kret(“wheelbarrow”), German Krätze(“basket”), Old English cræt, ceart(“cart, wagon, chariot”), Old Norse kartr(“wagon”), modern English cart.
Alternatively from Latin crātis(“wickerwork”), perhaps from the same PIE root. [1]
etymonline
crate (n.)
1680s, "large box of wood, slats, etc., used for packing and transporting," earlier "hurdle, grillwork" (late 14c.), from Latin cratis "wickerwork, lattice, kitchen-rack," or from Dutch krat "basket;" both perhaps from a common PIE root *kert- "to turn, entwine" (see hurdle (n.)).
crate (v.)
"to pack or put in a crate," 1871, from crate (n.). Related: Crated; crating.
