crux English · revision 968

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɹʌks/ ''(UK)''; /kɹʌks/, /krəks/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|crux|t=cross]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) The sense “difficulty” is probably a shortening of [[la-med|crux interpretum|t=torment of interpreters]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A difficulty that torments the interpreter, a puzzle, as a hard passage in a text (1718).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==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).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The Century Dictionary explained the figurative use from the cross as an instrument of torture, hence anything that torments.^(Etymonline) The extended sense “the central or decisive point” dates from 1888.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1718 – a puzzling difficulty.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1814 – a cross.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1837 – the constellation of the Southern Cross.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1888 – the central or decisive point.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The basic, central or decisive point, as in ''the crux of the argument''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A puzzling or apparently insoluble problem.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(rare)'' A [[cross]].^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Crux)'' The constellation of the [[Southern Cross]].^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cross]]

+ * [[crucial]]

+ * [[crucible]]

+ * [[crucifix]]

+ * [[crucify]]

+ * [[excruciating]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House lists ''essence'', ''heart'', ''core'' and ''gist'' as synonyms of the main sense.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}