A crippled beggar moves with crutches accompanied by a littl Wellcome V0020357

A cripple is a person or animal with a physical disability, particularly one who is unable to walk because of an injury or illness. The word was recorded as early as 950 AD, and derives from the Proto-Germanic ''krupilaz''. The

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and Dutch words ''Krüppel'' and ''kreupel'' are

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

s. By the 1970s, the word generally came to be regarded as pejorative when used for people with disabilities. ''Cripple'' is also a transitive verb, meaning "cause a disability or inability". The word ''crippling'' is also used as an adjective.

Reappropriation

In the same way that the term "queer" has been reappropriated by the gay rights movement, members of the

disability rights movement The disability rights movement is a global new social movements, social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunity, equal opportunities and equality before the law, equal rights for all people with disability, disabilities. It is made u ...

have reclaimed words such as "cripple", "crip", and "

gimp GIMP ( ; GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized task ...

" to refer to themselves. The ''cripple tribunal'' in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

on 13 December 1981 was one of the main protest actions of the autonomous German disability movement (in confrontation with the established disability assistance) against human rights abuses in

nursing homes A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

and psychiatric hospitals, as well as against deficiencies of local public transport. Analogous to the Russell Tribunal by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

, the ''cripple tribunal'' has denounced human rights violations of disabled people.

Other usages

* The Crips street gang were so named when members started carrying a cane which gave the impression they were disabled. * A cripple is a trimmer stud or joist which is shorter than full-length. * A cripple is a goods wagon or a passenger coach which although safe to run on the railway, is not fit for use and requires a repair before it can be used in service. This could be a coal wagon with a hole in the floor (which would allow coal to fall out of the wagon), or a passenger coach with a broken window.

References

{{Wiktionary, cripple Pejorative terms for people with disabilities