An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Kragen

by Friedrich Kluge

Kragen, masculine, ‘collar,’ from Middle High German krage, masculine, ‘neck’ (of men and animals), also ‘nape,’ then further, ‘article worn round the neck, collar’; wanting in Old High German, Old Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, and Old Icelandic Middle English crawe, English craw, ‘crop’ (of birds), point to Anglo-Saxon *craga; English variant crag, ‘neck, nape,’ dialectic also ‘crop’; Modern Icelandic kragi, masculine, ‘collar,’ is of German origin. Gothic kraga, masculine, ‘neck, throat,’ is wanting. Further references are uncertain; Greek βρόγχος, ‘windpipe,’ may be allied, since its initial β may represent g (grogho-, grongho-); compare also βρόχθος, ‘gullet, throat.’ Middle High German krage is also used personally as an abusive term, ‘fool’; hence Modern High German Geizkragen, ‘niggard.’