Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An ancient Irish dwelling or fort built on an artificial island in a lake or marsh.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An ancient lake-dwelling in Ireland.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One of the stockaded islands in Scotland and Ireland which in ancient times were numerous in the lakes of both countries. They may be regarded as the very latest class of prehistoric strongholds, reaching their greatest development in early historic times, and surviving through the Middle Ages. See also Lake dwellings, under lake.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An artificial island, used in prehistoric and medieval times in Scotland and Ireland for dwelling.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Irish Gaelic crannóg, wooden structure, pole, from Middle Irish crannóc, from Old Irish, from crann, tree.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old Irish crannóc.

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Examples

  • It was a crannog: a grouping of round, reed-thatched huts raised on oak piles above the swampy ground and connected by a network of swaying rope-and-wood causeways.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

  • The only light in the small room was from the flare of the torches set around the crannog outside.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

  • The only light in the small room was from the flare of the torches set around the crannog outside.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

  • It was a crannog: a grouping of round, reed-thatched huts raised on oak piles above the swampy ground and connected by a network of swaying rope-and-wood causeways.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

  • His gaze was still shifting nervously about the crannog, and she could see a glitter of perspiration on his brow.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

  • It was a crannog: a grouping of round, reed-thatched huts raised on oak piles above the swampy ground and connected by a network of swaying rope-and-wood causeways.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

  • His gaze was still shifting nervously about the crannog, and she could see a glitter of perspiration on his brow.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

  • The only light in the small room was from the flare of the torches set around the crannog outside.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

  • And one for the house of Christian holy women where Cerdic was now, to the east of the crannog.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

  • And one for the house of Christian holy women where Cerdic was now, to the east of the crannog.

    Dark Moon of Avalon Anna Elliott 2010

Comments

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  • Scots - loch dwelling built over the water on piles with a walkway onto the land.

    August 2, 2008

  • A slightly different meaning is explained here.

    January 11, 2009

  • Also a man-made island in a shallow water-scape built to provide safety and partial or delayed inaccessibility?

    January 11, 2009

  • The one pictured in my link was used as a kind of sentry post, roughly speaking.

    January 11, 2009