kræft

Borrowed from Middle Low German kreft, krevet (“crayfish, cancer”), from Proto-Germanic *krabitaz. Cognates include Swedish kräfta (“crayfish, cancer”) (also from Low German), German Krebs (“crayfish, cancer”) and Dutch kreeft (“crayfish”). The Danish word krebs (“crayfish”) is a German loan. The transferred meaning is influenced by Latin cancer (which in turn is influenced by Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crayfish, cancer”)).