| This annotated version expands the abbreviations in the original entry Mutterkrebs. | Random word Special:RandomInCategory/Annotated entries in Kluge's Etymological Dictionary of the German Language |
Mutterkrebs, ‘female crayfish,’ properly ‘a crayfish at the period when it casts its shell,’ had originally nothing to do with Mutter; it contains rather Old High German muter, High German Mauser (Latin mûtare). Compare mausern.