Creek or Stream?
What’s the difference between a creek and a stream? Is there one?
Creek
The word creek appears in English in the mid-15th century as creke or kryk from Old Norse kriki (corner, nook), words which generally meant something that was full of bends and turns. The words creke or kryk are related to the word crook which originally meant a bent or hooked tool.
By the 1570s, the word creek referred specifically to an inlet or short arm of a river. In the 1620s, the American English version of creek (often pronounced ‘crick’) referred to a small stream or brook. Later, early explorers of North America, Australia, and New Zealand used the term creek to mean any branch of a main river “without knowing [that these creeks] often were extensive rivers of their own” (Online Etymological Dictionary).
The phrase ‘up the creek’, from the early 1940s, from the earlier phrase ‘up shit creek’ meant to be in trouble (especially if pregnant). In armed forces slang the term meant ‘lost while on patrol’.
Stream
The noun stream meaning “anything issuing from a source and flowing continuously” appears before the 12th century in Old English as stream (Online Etymological Dictionary). Old English stream is related to Old High German stroum (stream) and Greek rhein (to flow).
In Middle English, a strem referred to a course of water, the current of a stream, or a body of water flowing in a natural channel. In the late 14th century, stream also referred to the steady current in the sea or in a river.
The English words stream or strem have their origins in Proto-Germanic strauma, and Proto-Indo-European (PIE) sreu (to flow). PIE sreu is also the source of the words diarrhea, hemorrhoids, maelstrom, rheostat, rheumatism, rhythm, and others.
-o-
In brief, the word stream refers to the general flow of something; e.g., a liquid or gas. The word creek refers to a specific flow of water normally smaller than a river. In British English a creek is also a small inlet or bay extending farther inland than a cove.
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
Creek
The word creek appears in English in the mid-15th century as creke or kryk from Old Norse kriki (corner, nook), words which generally meant something that was full of bends and turns. The words creke or kryk are related to the word crook which originally meant a bent or hooked tool.
By the 1570s, the word creek referred specifically to an inlet or short arm of a river. In the 1620s, the American English version of creek (often pronounced ‘crick’) referred to a small stream or brook. Later, early explorers of North America, Australia, and New Zealand used the term creek to mean any branch of a main river “without knowing [that these creeks] often were extensive rivers of their own” (Online Etymological Dictionary).
The phrase ‘up the creek’, from the early 1940s, from the earlier phrase ‘up shit creek’ meant to be in trouble (especially if pregnant). In armed forces slang the term meant ‘lost while on patrol’.
Stream
The noun stream meaning “anything issuing from a source and flowing continuously” appears before the 12th century in Old English as stream (Online Etymological Dictionary). Old English stream is related to Old High German stroum (stream) and Greek rhein (to flow).
In Middle English, a strem referred to a course of water, the current of a stream, or a body of water flowing in a natural channel. In the late 14th century, stream also referred to the steady current in the sea or in a river.
The English words stream or strem have their origins in Proto-Germanic strauma, and Proto-Indo-European (PIE) sreu (to flow). PIE sreu is also the source of the words diarrhea, hemorrhoids, maelstrom, rheostat, rheumatism, rhythm, and others.
-o-
In brief, the word stream refers to the general flow of something; e.g., a liquid or gas. The word creek refers to a specific flow of water normally smaller than a river. In British English a creek is also a small inlet or bay extending farther inland than a cove.
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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