An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Krug
Krug (1.), masculine, ‘jug, pitcher,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kruoc (g), Old High German chruog, m,; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon crôg, crôh, ‘pitcher,’ also ‘bottle.’ Besides these terms, based upon a common form krôga-, there are several words allied in sound and meaning; compare Old Saxon krûka, Dutch kruik, feminine, Anglo-Saxon crûce, Middle English crouke; Middle High German krûche, feminine, Modern High German (dialectic) Krauche. Anglo-Saxon crocca (and crohh), Middle English crokke, ‘pitcher,’ Icelandic krukka, ‘pot.’ Since it is not improbable that all these terms were borrowed, we may perhaps connect them further with Krause. Their source, however, cannot be assigned, since the corresponding words in the allied languages may also have been borrowed, and are insufficient phonetically to account for the numerous Teutonic terms. Some etymologists derive then from Keltic words such as Welsh crwc, ‘pail,’ from which French cruche, ‘pitcher,’ may be derived, if it is not of German origin. The Gothic term for ‘pitcher’ is aúrkeis (borrowed from Latin urceus). Compare Krug (2).
Krug (2.), masculine, ‘alehouse,’ compare Dutch kroeg; it passed into High German and Dutch from Low German, where it is recorded since the 13th century. The quondam assumption that the word is identical with Krug (1), “because formerly an actual or a carved pitcher was hung in front of a tavern,” is demolished by the fact that Krug, ‘urceus,’ is entirely unknown to Low German (and Dutch); the Old Saxon term krûka was used. On the other hand, Krug, ‘alehouse,’ was originally wanting in High German, in which Krug, ‘pitcher,’ was current at the earliest period.