My daughter and I were playing softball and on the next field were a bunch of guys playing cricket. She asked me Why is Cricket called Cricket? I had no idea and figured this was a good place to find out.
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1Not sure if this is on-topic here, cf. sports.stackexchange.com/questions/28/… (maybe EL&U would be a better fit). – Mormegil May 5 '12 at 11:03
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According to Wiktionary and BBC News, the game and the word might originally be from Belgium (and “There is no way to relate the term to any existing English word”):
Perhaps from a Flemish dialect of Dutch met 'with' de 'the' krik ketsen 'to ricochet', i.e. "to chase a ball with a crook".
The Online Etymology Dictionary explains it this way:
1590s, apparently from O.Fr. criquet "goal post, stick," perhaps from M.Du./M.Flem. cricke "stick, staff," perhaps from the same root as crutch.
