Dictionary

crèche en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /kɹeɪʃ/
• /kɹɛʃ/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French crèche (“manger”), from Frankish *krippija, *kribbija, from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ. Doublet of crib. Daycare meaning comes from recent use in France French (whereas in Canadian French garderie is used instead).

Meanings

1. A representation of the nativity scene.
   • At last, all was complete. The creche at Greccio looked like a new Bethlehem. The baby Jesus would be placed in the manger at midnight Mass. 2007, Clyde A. Bonar, Amen, I Say to You, page 666:
2. (Ireland, UK) A day nursery.
   • They drop their two-year-old off at the crèche in the morning before they go to work.
   • If you leave the kids in the creche for one morning on your week's holiday, and they are OK with that, then it's fine. 2012, Roni Jay, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Do For Your Children:
3. (historical) A hospital for orphaned infants; a foundling hospital.
   • In line with this policy, a couple could adopt a Crèche foundling only if one or both of them were Roman Catholics. 1973, Wayne Dennis, Children of the Crèche, page 74:
   • One road leads to desertion of the child in a convenient hallway; another to the creche of a foundling hospital; a third, to a boarding home, good or indifferent, for the child. 1894, Amos Griswold Warner, American Charities: A Study in Philanthropy and Economics, page 272:
4. (collective, qualifier:marine biology) A group of young who stay together for protection.

Forms

Deriveds

crèchemate