cross

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (6)  · 
“
To understand why the cross is a thing of beauty we have to understand what was accomplished for us on that cross, and what that reveals about the real state of affairs in this world.

View all »
Definitions (128)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (49)

  1. noun An upright post with a transverse piece near the top, on which condemned persons were executed in ancient times.
  2. noun The upright post with a transverse piece upon which Jesus was crucified.
  3. noun A crucifix.
46 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (58)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (5)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (16)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • THE Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope liked to ponder what he called the cross-grainedness of men. —  The Australian | News |
  • In the earliest Christian life, as can be seen from the metaphorical language of the primitive faithful, the cross was the symbol of the principal Christian virtue, i.e. mortification or victory over the passions, and suffering for Christ's sake and in union with Him —  Conservapedia - Recent changes [en]
  • Jesus nailed to the cross is the freest person of all. —  International Political Economy Zone
  • In Luke 23: 33, 35-49 the cross is the central point as Christ is taken to the place called —  Biblical Recorder
  • The duties of their special ministry were to supersede the love for kindred; they must be willing to leave father, mother, son, or daughter, whatever the sacrifice; for, said Jesus "He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me The significance of this figure must have been solemnly impressive, and actually terrifying; for the cross was a symbol of ignominy, extreme suffering, and death. —  Jesus the Christ A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 249 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

stone ·  ring ·  statue ·  tower ·  sword ·  column ·  chain ·  one ·  square ·  arch ·  image ·  star

Used in the same contextWord Family

cross:   crossed ·  crossing ·  crosses
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English cros, from Old English, probably from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from cross, n.; in part by apheresis from across. There is no distinct line of division between cross as an adjective and cross as a prefix. As a prefix, it often represents the adverb cross, or the preposition cross, across.
  2. from cross, a.; in part by apheresis from across.
  3. In early use in three forms according to the noun: (1) English cross, from Middle English crossen = Icelandic krossa = Swedish korsa = Danish korse; (2) Middle English croisen, croisien, croicien, creoisien, creoicien, creysien, from Old French croiser, cruisier, French croiser = Provencal crozar = Spanish Portuguese cruzar = Italian crociare, cruciare; (3) English crouch, from Middle English crouchen, crowchen, cruchen = Dutch kruisen (later English cruise) = German kreuzen, cross, = Danish krydse = Swedish kryssa, cross, cruise; all from the noun. See cross, n.
  4. By apheresis from across.
  5. Middle English crosse, cros, croce, also croche, = Dutch krootse, from Old French croce, crosse, croche, French crosse = Provencal crossa = Old Spanish croza, a bishop's staff, = Italian croccia, a crutch, from Middle Latin crocia, crocea (crochia, croca), a curved stick, a bishop's staff; apparently from Middle Latin crocus, croca, Old French croc, French croc, etc., a crook; but early confused with and perhaps in part due to L. crux (cruc-), a cross (a cross being the mark of the archbishop's staff, as distinguished from the crook of the ordinary bishop's staff). The Middle English and Roman words for cross, crook, and crutch were much involved in form and senses: see crook, cross, crutch, crutch, and cf. crosse and crozier.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/krɔs/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a day.

Recently looked up

rando · unto · professionalism · hotfile · quote

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich