crude

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   belonging to an early stage of technical development

   characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness

2. 2
   adj

   not carefully or expertly made

   managed to make a crude splint

3. 3
   adj

   In a natural, untreated state.

   crude oil

4. 4
   adj

   Characterized by simplicity, especially something not carefully or expertly made.

   a crude shelter

5. 5
   adj

   Lacking concealing elements.

   a crude truth

6. 6
   adj

   Lacking tact or taste.

   a crude remark

7. 7
   adj

   Uncooked, raw.

   Her mete was very crude, She had not wel endude; […]

8. 8
   noun

   Ellipsis of crude oil.

   The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).

Etymology

From Middle English crude, borrowed from Latin crūdus (“raw, bloody, uncooked, undigested, crude”). Doublet of crudo, from Italian. Cognate with Old English hrēaw (“raw, uncooked”) via Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“raw blood”); more at raw.