"C" Word Origins

crooked

Middle English

From Middle English croked, the past participle of croken ("to bend"), from the same root as "crook."

crookesite

Origin

From Crookes + -ite, named after British chemist and physicist Sir William Crookes.

croon

German

Borrowed from Scots croon, describing a low, drawn-out sound or lament; related to Middle Dutch and Old High German words meaning "to moan" or "to babble."

crooner

Origin

Formed from "croon" plus the agent suffix "-er," meaning one who croons.

crop

Old English

From Old English cropp, originally meaning the top or head of a plant, or a bird's craw — later extended to mean a harvest, and then to cutting things short.

cropped

Origin

The past participle form of "crop," used as an adjective.

croquet

French

Borrowed from Norman French croquet, meaning "hook," related to "crochet" and "crotchet."

crore

Origin

Borrowed from Hindustani karoṛ, a native South Asian numbering term.

Crosby

Old Norse

From Old Norse kross ("cross") plus býr ("settlement").

cross

Latin

From Old English cros, borrowed via Old Norse from Old Irish, ultimately from Latin crux — the same root behind "crucial" and "crux."

crossbeam

Origin

From cross + beam.

crossbencher

Origin

From crossbench + -er.

crossbow

Middle English

From Middle English crosbowe, formed from "cross" plus "bow," describing the bow's crosswise mounting.

crossfire

Origin

Formed from "cross-" plus "fire," describing gunfire directed across a shared line of attack.

crossfit

Origin

Coined from "cross-discipline fitness," combining "cross-" and "fit."

crossing

Origin

Formed from "cross" plus the suffix "-ing."

crossover

Origin

A deverbal noun formed from the phrase "cross over."

crosspatch

Origin

From cross (“grumpy”) + patch (“fool”).

crosspiece

Origin

From cross- + piece.

crossrail

Origin

Formed from "cross-" plus "rail."

crossroad

Origin

Formed from "cross" plus "road."

crossroads

Origin

Formed from "cross" plus "roads," describing an intersection of routes.

crosswalk

Origin

Formed from "cross" plus "walk."

crosswise

Origin

From Middle English croswyse, crose wyse, equivalent to cross + -wise.

crossword

Origin · 1913

Formed from "cross" plus "word." The modern crossword puzzle was invented in 1913 by Arthur Wynne; the name "crossword" appeared shortly after, possibly as a shortened form of his original term "word-cross."

crotch

Middle English

Likely from a Middle English word related to "crutch" — both describe something forked or supportive.

crotchet

Origin

From Middle English crochet, from Old French crochet (“small hook”), from croc + -et (diminutive suffix), from Old Norse krókr (“hook”). The musical note was named so because of a small hook on its stem in black notation (in modern notation this hook is on the quaver/eighth note). Doublet of crochet, crocket, and croquet.

crotchety

Origin

From crotchet + -y, using crotchet in the 16th-century sense of a whim or fancy.

crouch

Middle English

From Middle English crouchen, related to "crook" — ultimately from an Old Norse word for a hook, describing the bent shape of the body.

croup

Old French

From Old French croupe ("rump, body"), from an Old Norse word for the body or trunk.

croupier

French

Borrowed directly from French croupier.

crow

Old English

From Old English crāwe, imitating the bird's harsh call — related to the verb "to crow."

crowbar

Origin

From "crow" (an old name for a metal lever, since its forked end resembled a crow's foot) plus "bar."

crowbill

Origin

From crow (“bird of the genus Corvus”) + bill (“beak of a bird”). Sense 1 (“kind of forceps”) is probably from its appearance, while sense 2 (“type of poleaxe”) is a calque of French bec de corbin (literally “crow or raven's beak”).

crowd

Old English

From Old English crūdan ("to press, push"), related to words in German and Dutch meaning to shove or push.

crowder

Origin

From "crowd" (an old name for a stringed instrument) plus "-er."

crowkeeper

Origin

From crow + keeper.

crown

Latin

From Latin corona ("wreath, crown"), by way of Old French — the same root behind "corona" and "coronation."

crowned

Middle English

From Middle English coronede, crouned, crowned, crownyd, equivalent to crown + -ed. Piecewise doublet of coronaed.

crowning

Middle English

From Middle English crowninge, crounende, equivalent to crown + -ing.

crownwork

Origin

From crown + work.

Croydon

Old English

From Old English Crogedene, literally "saffron valley," combining croh ("saffron") and denu ("valley").

cru

French

Borrowed from French cru ("growth"), from the verb croître, "to grow."

crucial

Latin

From French crucial, originally a medical term for the cross-shaped knee ligaments (from Latin crux, "cross"); the modern sense of "decisive" comes from Francis Bacon's use of the idea of a signpost at a fork in the road, where a critical choice must be made.

cruciate

Origin

From Latin cruciatus.

crucible

Latin

From Latin crucibulum, an old word for a melting pot, possibly linked to crux ("cross") or crucio ("to torment").

crucifix

Latin

From Old French crocefis, ultimately from Latin crucifixus, "fixed to a cross."

crucifixion

Latin

From Latin crucifixio, from crucifixus ("fixed to a cross").