crux

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɹʌks/ (UK); /kɹʌks/, /krəks/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin crux (“cross”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a word of uncertain origin.^[4] The sense “difficulty” is probably a shortening of Medieval Latin crux interpretum (“torment of interpreters”).^[2][3][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A difficulty that torments the interpreter, a puzzle, as a hard passage in a text (1718).^[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In English the figurative sense came before the literal one: crux as a name for a cross is recorded only from the 19th century, in heraldic and other expressions (1814–41).^[4][7] The Century Dictionary explained the figurative use from the cross as an instrument of torture, hence anything that torments.^[4] The extended sense “the central or decisive point” dates from 1888.^[7][3]

Timeline

• 1718 – a puzzling difficulty.^[7][3][4][5]
• 1814 – a cross.^[4]
• 1837 – the constellation of the Southern Cross.^[7]
• 1888 – the central or decisive point.^[7][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The basic, central or decisive point, as in the crux of the argument.
2. A puzzling or apparently insoluble problem.
3. (rare) A cross.
4. (Crux) The constellation of the Southern Cross.

Related words

• cross
• crucial
• crucible
• crucifix
• crucify
• excruciating

Usage notes

Random House lists essence, heart, core and gist as synonyms of the main sense.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press