crew [LME] When crew came into English in the 15th century it initially referred to a band of soldiers acting as reinforcements. The origin of the word is Old French creue ‘an increase’, ultimately derived from Latin crescere ‘to grow or increase’ (see crescent). By the 16th century the word was being applied to any organized armed band or, more generally, a company of people. A crew cut is so called because this closely cropped hairstyle was first adopted by rowing crews at Harvard and Yale universities in the late 1930s. The crew neck came from the same source—rowers wore sweaters with close-fitting necks.