This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Also compare the place name Khuê Liễu, whose demotic name (tên Nôm) was làng Sếu. I can't seem to find the spelling in Chinese characters for the name though. The earlier form can be reconstructed as *k-reːwʔ.” |
Compare Khmer ក្រៀល (kriəl, “sarus crane”), Mon ကြေဲ (krea, “sarus crane”).
Probably originally imitative, compare Latin grūs, Yakut туруйа (turuya), Japanese 鶴 (tsuru).