crane

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kreɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English crane, inherited from Old English cran,^[2][3][4][5] cognate with Old Saxon krano, Old High German krano (modern German Kranich) and, with an unexplained change of k to t, Old Norse trani,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *gere- (“to cry hoarsely”), the source also of Latin grūs, Ancient Greek γέρανος (géranos) and Welsh garan.^[3][2][4] The name probably echoes the bird's cry.^[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The bird: about 1000, in Ælfric's Glossary;^[2][6] as a surname, Crane, in 1177.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The lifting machine, long-legged like the bird, was a crane by the 14th century (1375),^[6][7] as German, Dutch and French also name the machine after the bird,^[7][4] and Greek and Latin had used their words for engines too.^[4][2] The name was applied locally to herons and storks from 1678.^[6] The grey European crane was once common in British marshes and prized as food, but was extinct there through much of the 20th century.^[3] The verb, to hoist with a crane, is from 1570, and to stretch the neck from 1799.^[6][5][3] In dialects of Scotland and northern England the crane was also the cranberry.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – cran, the bird.^[2][6]
• 1177 – Crane (surname).^[2]
• 1375 – a lifting machine.^[6]
• 1570 – to crane, hoist.^[6][5]
• 1799 – to crane one's neck.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large wading bird of the family Gruidae, with a long neck, long legs and a long bill.
2. A similar bird, such as a heron.
3. A machine for lifting and moving heavy objects by cables hung from a movable arm.

Verb

1. To stretch one's neck in order to see better.
2. To lift or move with a crane.

Word family

• cranesbill

Related words

• cranberry
• geranium
• crane fly

Usage notes

Crane, the skull (1541), was a separate word, from Latin cranium.^[6][5]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)