crucial English · revision 6815

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1706|origins=la crux}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|crucial]], a medical term,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|crux|t=cross]] (genitive crucis; see [[crux]] and [[cross]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cross-shaped, chiefly in anatomy: 1706.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) The French word was a term for the crossing ligaments of the knee.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense decisive, finally deciding between two hypotheses, is first recorded in 1830 and comes from Francis Bacon's Latin phrase ''instantia crucis'', crucial instance (''Novum Organum'', 1620).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) Bacon's image is of a signpost at a fork in a road, where one must decide which way to go.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(AHD) From decisive the word weakened to very important,^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) and in British slang it can mean very good.^(Collins 2023) The anatomical sense is now rare.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1620 – Bacon's ''instantia crucis''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1706 – cross-shaped.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1830 – decisive.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Extremely important; [[vital]] or [[essential]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Decisive in settling a question or [[crisis]]; [[critical]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' Very good.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(anatomy, rare)'' Shaped like a cross.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[crucially]]

+ * [[noncrucial]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cross]]

+ * [[crux]]

+ * [[cruciate]]

+ * [[crucible]]

+ * [[crucify]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}