creek: [13] Now firmly associated with watercourse, the original connotations of creek seem to have been of ‘narrow and secluded bendiness’. It appears to have been borrowed from Old Norse kriki ‘nook’, which some have speculated may be related to Old Norse krōkr ‘hook’ (source of English crook). Creek remains strictly a word for narrow waterways, a reminder of its beginnings. => crook
creek (n.)
mid-15c., creke "narrow inlet in a coastline," altered from kryk (early 13c.; in place names from 12c.), probably from Old Norse kriki "corner, nook," perhaps influenced by Anglo-French crique, itself from a Scandinavian source via Norman. Perhaps ultimately related to crook and with an original notion of "full of bends and turns" (compare dialectal Swedish krik "corner, bend; creek, cove").
Extended to "inlet or short arm of a river" by 1570s, which probably led to use for "small stream, brook" in American English (1620s). Also used there and in Canada, Australia, New Zealand for "branch of a main river," possibly from explorers moving up main rivers and seeing and noting mouths of tributaries without knowing they often were extensive rivers of their own. Slang phrase up the creek "in trouble," often especially "pregnant," first recorded 1941, perhaps originally armed forces slang for "lost while on patrol."
Creek
Indian tribe or confederation, 1725, named for creek, the geographical feature, and abbreviated from Ochese Creek Indians, from the place in Georgia where English first encountered them. Native name is Muskogee, a word of uncertain origin.
例文
1. He was transferred to Shoal Creek Mental Institution for an indefinite period.
彼はショル渓精神病院に転院され、そこに無期限に滞在することになった。
2.It was still light when we arrived at Lalong Creek .
私たちがラロン渓に着いた時はまだ暗くなっていませんでした。
3.People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek .
人々は小川が露出した岩の上で裸で日光浴をしている。
4.I 'll be up the creek if I don 't pass this history test.