crate: [17] Crate is usually connected with Latin crātis ‘hurdle’, making it a relative of grate, griddle, and grill(e), and indeed an isolated example of crate in the early 16th century, which unequivocally means ‘hurdle’, certainly must come from that source. However, the main body of evidence for crate begins in the late 17th century, and its meaning, ‘large case or box’, is sufficiently far from ‘hurdle’ to raise doubts about its origins. Another possible source that has been suggested is Dutch krat ‘basket’. => grate, griddle, grill
crate (n.)
"large box," 1680s, earlier "hurdle, grillwork" (late 14c.), from Latin cratis "wickerwork, lattice, kitchen-rack," or from Dutch krat "basket;" both perhaps from a common PIE root *kert- "to turn, entwine" (see hurdle (n.)).
crate (v.)
"to put in a crate," 1871, from crate (n.). Related: Crated; crating.