crèche
Americannoun
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crèches
plural
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a small or large modeled representation or tableau of Mary, Joseph, and others around the crib of Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem, as is displayed in homes or erected for exhibition in a community at Christmas season.
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a home for foundlings.
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British. a day-care center; day nursery.
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Animal Behavior. an assemblage of dependent young that are cared for communally.
noun
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a day nursery for very young children
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a supervised play area provided for young children for short periods
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a tableau of Christ's Nativity
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a foundling home or hospital
Usage
What does crèche mean? A crèche is a nativity scene—a model of a scene depicting the birth of Jesus. Crèches are often displayed in or outside of homes or churches during Advent, the season preceding Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Jesus and is among the most important Christian holidays. A crèche is also commonly called a Nativity scene or simply a Nativity. Crèche is also sometimes used to refer to a childcare facility like a day care. This sense of the word is primarily used in the United Kingdom. It is sometimes seen without the accent mark, which comes from its French spelling. Example: My children’s favorite part of the crèche is the goats and other animals.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of crèche
1785–95; < French, Old French < Frankish *kripja crib
Explanation
A creche is a representation of the scene of Jesus Christ’s birth. It's the nativity scene that is displayed at Christmas, with the manger, Mary, Joseph, and the three wise men. Although a creche is the same thing as a nativity scene, if you want to get nit-picky, the creche refers specifically to the baby Jesus in the manger. Crèche is a French word that also refers to a nursery or daycare center. Say creche to a British person and she’ll assume you’re talking about a daycare, 'cause that's what they call it across the pond.
Vocabulary lists containing creche
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Forbes has since criticised the Scottish Parliament's crèche facilities, which are only available for three hours a day from Tuesday to Thursday.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2025
Mr. Rave says that this crèche is unusually large.
From NewsForKids.net ● May 7, 2024
Gazing at the crèche, Maria Letizia Panerai, 58, said the ceramic figures were just what she was looking for in a manger scene.
From New York Times ● Dec. 18, 2020
Eighteenth-century terra-cotta angels in silk robes deck the tree’s boughs, and an elaborate crèche re-creating the bustle of life in the port city of Naples sprawls at its base.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 16, 2018
The guards seem to leave the crèche alone anyhow.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
“I’ve seen crèches up to 35 and 50 often, but 70 — that would be a very big crèche,” he told the New York Times.
From NewsForKids.net ● May 7, 2024
It is her description of the nativity scene that has been adapted by most Renaissance artists, and appears today in the countless crèches that abound the world over.
From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2016
France’s pro-natalist policies, historically inspired by the need to breed soldiers to keep Germany at bay, guarantee Scandinavian levels of spending on family benefits and crèches.
From Economist ● May 26, 2016
My crèches were more in the little shed vein; one year I added a thatched roof made out of stalks of straw.
From Slate ● Dec. 21, 2011
The London crèches have a night school for working girls and grown women in connection with the principal part of the institution; also a Sunday school for children.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 17, No. 099, March, 1876 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
