An etymology for Kreacher

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 107362

Adi worte:
<snip> I do not keep up with the etymology lists on the net, but the 
etymology for Kreacher seems to me this. Kreacher, seems to be 
merely a different spelling for the word 'creature'. Since Kreacher is 
supposed to be what he is because of the (can we call it that?)
racial discrimination shown towards him by the other wizards. 
<snip>

Sue responded:
> 
> Yes, Kreacher does, indeed, sound like "creature" and that's
probably what it means. JKR does a lot of this Dickensian naming, as
we've all noticed, with characters having appropriate names! :-)

Carol adds:

I think the reader (even a very young reader) is supposed to
catch--and react to--the name Kreacher, which certainly does suggest
"creature" in the sense of a lesser (or at any rate, nonhuman) being
(in our world, usually an animal). Think of the implications of giving
him that name and its effect on his view of himself as he realized its
meaning. 

But that may be only the surface level. There's also the original
meaning of "creature" as a thing or being that has been created, as in
"we are all God's creatures." In this sense, Kreacher is the
"creature" of the Black family (and the house-elves in general are the
"creatures" of the wizards who own them or condone the system); he is
what they have made him.

There's another, secondary, meaning of the word "creature" that may
also be relevant: "one that is the servile dependent or tool of
another" (Webster's Tenth)--as Wormtongue is Saruman's "creature" in
LOTR and Wormtail is Voldemort's in GoF. That definition fits
Kreacher, too--the servile dependent and tool of the Black family,
including Narcissa. I may be wrong, but I think JKR was aware of these
definitions as well as the more obvious sense of the word. Otherwise,
the name is no more than a cruel pun on the part of whichever member
of the Black family bestowed it.

Worth considering, anyway.

Carol