cranny en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈkɹæni/
Etymology
From Middle English crany, crani (“cranny”), apparently a diminutive of *cran (+ -y), from Old French cran, cren (“notch, fissure”), a derivative of crener (“to notch, split”), from Medieval Latin crenō (“split”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *crinō (“split, break”, verb), of obscure origin; according to Watkins, of Gaulish origin, from Proto-Celtic *krīnos (“decayed, withered”). Despite a spurious use in Pliny, connection to Latin crēna (“notch, incision”) is doubtful. Instead, probably of Germanic or Celtic origin. Compare Old High German chrinna (“notch, groove, crevice”), Alemannic German Krinne (“small crack, channel, groove”), Low German karn (“notch, groove, crevice, cranny”), Old Irish ara-chrinin (“to perish, decay”).
Meanings
-
A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance.
Down thro the Cranies of the living Walls / The Crystal Streams descend in murm'ring Falls
1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 208, line 237:What a pity they didn’t stop up the chinks and the crannies though, and thrust in a little lint here and there.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter II, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 10:[H]e peep'd into every Cranny; ſometimes he admir'd the Beauty of the Architecture, and the vaſt Solidity of the Maſon's VVork; at other Times he commended the Symmetry and Proportion of the Rooms.
1733, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], Alexander Pope, compiler, “Law is a Bottomless Pit. Or, The History of John Bull. […]. The Second Part. Chapter XXII. Of the Great Joy that John Express’d when He Got Possession of Ecclesdown.”, in Miscellanies, 2nd edition, volume II, London: […] Benjamin Motte, […], →OCLC, page 170:
- A tool for forming the necks of bottles, etc.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| crannies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
any nook or cranny · nook or cranny · every nook and cranny · nook and cranny
Translations (22)
bg пукнатина (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · sv springa (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · uk щіль (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · de Versteck (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · cs puklina (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · de Spalt (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · mi piere (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · bg процеп (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · cs skulina (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · fi rako (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · cs škvíra (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · uk тріщина (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · ru трещина (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · uk щілина (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · nl spleet (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · mi mātata (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · nl scheur (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · fi halkeama (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · ru щель (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · bg пролука (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · ro fisură (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink) · es recoveco (small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink)