From Latin praesepium, meaning crib, manger, but also enclosed enclosure where sheep and goats were kept.
The term is composed of prae (before) and saepes (enclosure), meaning a place that has an enclosure in front of it. In the late Latin of the early evangelical vulgates it is called cripia, which later became greppia in Italian, krippe in German, crib in English, and crèche in French.
This etymology testifies to the fact that the art of creating nativity scenes has been part of the Christian tradition since its origins: already in the early Christian catacombs we find the first representations of the nativity.
What is the origin of the word crib?
