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crux

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See also: Crux

English

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WOTD – 21 August 2009

Etymology

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From Latin crux (“cross, wooden frame for execution”), possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”). Doublet of cross and crouch (“cross”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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crux (plural cruxes or cruces)

  1. The basic, central, or essential point or feature.
    Synonyms: core, gist; see also Thesaurus:gist
    The crux of her argument was that the roadways needed repair before anything else could be accomplished.
  2. The critical or transitional moment or issue, a turning point.
    • 1993, Laurence M. Porter, “Real Dreams, Literary Dreams, and the Fantastic in Literature”, in Carol Schreier Rupprecht, editor, The Dream and the Text: Essays on Literature and Language, pages 32–47:
      The mad certitude of the ogre, Abel Tiffauges, that he stands at the crux of history and that he will be able to raise Prussia "to a higher power" (p. 180), contrasts sharply with the anxiety and doubt attendant upon most modern literary dreams.
    • 2024 September 11, Richard Brody, ““Winner” Takes Political Comedy Seriously”, in The New Yorker‎[1]:
      The movie hits its dramatic crux an hour in, when Reality [Winner], at work at the contractor’s facility in Georgia, discovers what she deems a tragic scandal.
  3. A puzzle or difficulty.
    • 1775, Thomas Sheridan, Lectures on the Art of Reading:
      What I have advanced upon this species of verse will contribute to solve a poetical problem, thrown out by Dryden as a crux to his brethren
    • 1860, Marian Evans (translator), The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined (originally by David Strauss)
      The perpetual crux of New Testament chronologists.
  4. (climbing) The hardest point of a climb.
    • 1907, The Alpine Journal‎[2], volume 23:
      the real crux of the climb was encountered
    • 1973, Pat Armstrong, "Klondike Fever: Seventy Years Too Late", in Backpacker, Autumn 1973, page 84:
      The final half-mile was the crux of the climb.
    • 2004, Craig Luebben, Rock Climbing: Mastering Basic Skills, The Mountaineers Books, →ISBN, page 179:
      Most pitches have a distinct crux, or tough spot; some have multiple cruxes. […] ¶ Climb efficiently on the "cruiser" sections to stay fresh for the cruxes.
    • 2009, R. J. Secor, The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails, Third Edition, The Mountaineers Books, →ISBN, page 51:
      Continue climbing the groove; the crux is passing some vegetation on the second pitch.
  5. (heraldry) A cross on a coat of arms.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → French: crux

Translations

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Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin crux or English crux, in the phrase crux interpretum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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crux f (plural cruces or cruxen)

  1. crucial or otherwise serious, difficult problem

French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English crux. Doublet of croix, croiseur, and cruiser.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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crux m (plural crux)

  1. (climbing) crux (hardest point of a climb)

Latin

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Latin Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia la

Etymology

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From Proto-Italic *kruks or *krukis (it is uncertain whether the original form was an i-stem), of unclear origin. Pokorny connected Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”) with an assumed extension in *-k-; compare Latin circus (“circle”) and curvus (“curve”).[1] This explanation suffers phonetic, morphological and semantic problems. A modern hypothesis connects Irish crúach (“heap, hill”), Gaulish *krouka (“summit”), Proto-Brythonic *krʉg (“small hill; pillar”), Old Norse hrúga (“heap, pile”), and Proto-Germanic *hraukaz (“heap, pile”) and *hrugjaz (“back, spine, ridge”), pointing to Proto-Indo-European *krewk- (“~ heap, hill; back, spine?”), albeit with an unusual root structure and shaky semantics. Alternatively, a loanword from an unidentified or substrate language.[2]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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crux f (genitive crucis); third declension

  1. wooden frame on which criminals were crucified, especially a cross
  2. (derogatory) gallows bird; one who deserves to be hanged
  3. (figuratively) torture; misery
  4. cross (symbol)
    Ave Crux alba ― Hail thou white Cross

Declension

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Third-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative crux crucēs
genitive crucis crucum
dative crucī crucibus
accusative crucem crucēs
ablative cruce crucibus
vocative crux crucēs

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Borrowings

References

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  1. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “611”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 611
  2. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “crux, -cis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 147–148: “PIt. *kruk(-i)-?”

Further reading

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  • “crux”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “crux”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • crux in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • crux in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to threaten some one with death, crucifixion, torture, war: minitari (minari) alicui mortem, crucem et tormenta, bellum
    • to crucify: in crucem agere, tollere aliquem
    • to crucify: cruci suffigere aliquem
  • “crux”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “crux”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
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