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kraken

an enormous mythical sea monster said to appear off Norway

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Where does the word "kraken" come from? It comes from Norwegian krake, and was adopted directly into English (1750s).

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Where does the word "kraken" come from? It comes from Norwegian krake, and was adopted directly into English (1750s).

Kraken’s story begins in Norwegian: krake meant “twisted thing; sea monster.” A dialect word for a twisted, stunted thing; 'kraken' is its definite form, 'the kraken'. It reached English by 1750s as kraken. The bishop Erik Pontoppidan's 'Natural History of Norway' (1752) described it; Tennyson's poem 'The Kraken' followed in 1830. Today, kraken means an enormous mythical sea monster said to appear off Norway.

  1. Stage 1 · Norwegian · 1700s krake "twisted thing; sea monster", a dialect word for a twisted, stunted thing; 'kraken' is its definite form, 'the kraken'.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1750s kraken "sea monster", the bishop Erik Pontoppidan's 'Natural History of Norway' (1752) described it; Tennyson's poem 'The Kraken' followed in 1830.

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