Meaning

noun a harsh hoarse utterance (as of a frog)

verb pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life

verb utter a hoarse sound, like a raven

originFrom Middle English *croken, crouken, (also represented by craken > crake), back-formation from Old English crācettan (“to croak”) (also in derivative crǣcetung (“croaking”)), from Proto-Germanic *krēk-, from Proto-Indo-European *greh₂-g-, from *greh₂-k-, of onomatopoeic origin. See also Swedish kråka, German krächzen, Sanskrit गर्जति (garjati, “to growl”); also compare Latin grāculus…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0