The etymology of karakuri is said to have been the nominalized adverbial form of the Japanese verb 'karakuru,' which means 'move something by pulling the strings attached to it,' and the word karakuri was found to have been used as early as in the late 16th century.
語源は「糸を引っ張って動かす」という意味の「からくる」という動詞の連用形の名詞化といい、16世紀後半頃から用例が確認されている。