: a group of young animals (such as penguins or bats) gathered in one place for care and protection usually by one or more adults
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She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a cratch. That may not sound like a familiar translation of Luke 2:7, but back in the 1300s, the substitution of cratch for manger probably wouldn't have raised any eyebrows. Back then spelling was imprecise, and several different words and spellings, including cratch, cracche, crache, and crecche, were used to describe a trough for holding feed for livestock or to identify the manger where Jesus was laid. By the late 18th century, crèche (which we borrowed from French and now sometimes spell without the accent mark) had displaced those older forms, and the word had lost its former "manger" meaning, coming to refer instead to a representation of the Nativity scene itself.
one of the first cities to establish crèches so that poor women with children could work outside of the home
Recent Examples on the WebThe plant has a creche and worship rooms with a capacity of processing up to 20 metric tonnes of shea a month. Kate Hardcastle, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2022 We were supposed to be the family that carried the Christ Child to the creche at Most Holy Redeemer that year. Kevin Fisher-paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Dec. 2021 The original putz villages were created by children and families who would gather sticks, leaves, and other natural elements to create a scene around the creche.Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Nov. 2021 Some Tata Motors factories provide creche facilities for women with kids. Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 13 Sep. 2021 California estate sales last July netted two lighted Christmas trees and a giant creche to add to my collection of too many, according to you know who.azcentral, 28 Nov. 2019 What was life like before this mobile creche was established? Annabelle Timsit, Quartz, 11 Sep. 2019 The wider perspective is mine: More than 100 children died of encephalitis in just one hospital, their deaths preceded by malnutrition, which obviously has not been addressed at substandard creches and health centres. Samar Halarnkar, Quartz India, 24 June 2019 The Australian airline has dropped the notion of rolling out bunks, beds, a gym, or even a creche for passengers traveling on the world’s longest commercial flight. Angus Whitley, https://www.inquirer.com, 5 June 2019 See More
Word History
Etymology
French, from Old French creche manger, crib, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German krippa manger — more at crib