Nativity scene or Nativity crib?

[Sónia Silva]

Can you tell me if there's any difference in meaning between Nativity scene and Nativity crib?
Thank you very much!

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum, Sonia.

One of the definitions of 'crib' is a representation of the manger in which the infant Jesus was laid at birth*, so if the context is clear, it's redundant to put 'Nativity' before it.

* Collins Dictionary

 

[Sónia Silva]

Thank you very much for your reply, but my doubt has to do with the following meanings I found in www.lexico.com:

Crib
1.2British A model of the Nativity of Christ, with a manger as a bed.

Nativity scene
A model or tableau representing the scene of Jesus Christ's birth, displayed in homes or public places at Christmas.

I can't see any difference... Are they complete synonyms? Can we use one or the other, indiscriminately, when referring, for instance, to a painting depicting this theme or to the set of clay figures and scenery depicting the same scene?

What should we use to label the following images? Nativity scene/ Nativity crib? Both can be use in the two cases?

 

[emsr2d2]

The second picture is definitely a "Nativity scene" for me. It's the kind of thing you see in shop windows and under Christmas trees. Usually, such scenes include the baby in a crib, the parents, at least some of the three wise men and three kings, a few animals and, as in this one, an angel. It's normally an actual 3-D setup with figures you can move around.

The first picture, for me, is just a painting representing the nativity.

 

[jutfrank]

The 'crib' is the manger. Jesus was placed in a manger, which functioned as a crib.

The 'scene' is the representation of everything in the stable, including the crib, and the people and animals.

 

[SoothingDave]

If you just said "crib" I would assume you were referring to a bed for an infant. Not a scene depicting the Nativity.

"Nativity scene" or "creche" is what I would expect.

Crib v creche may be an AmE/BrE difference?

 

[emsr2d2]

I've certainly never heard of a "Nativity creche" in BrE. "Creche" is used solely for a place where parents can leave their babies and sometimes toddlers while they do something else. Some companies provide a creche in the actual building where they're based although I don't know if this is as prevalent as it used to be because of the sky-high cost of employing the staff to provide the childcare. There used to be a creche at my local shopping centre where, for a fee, people could leave their kids for a couple of hours while they went shopping but I think it closed down before Covid started.

 

[SoothingDave]

The usage is just "creche." Like "they had to put the creche on a private piece of land downtown because they aren't allowed to use the Courthouse property."