Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

crane

/kɹeɪn/ noun

In Latin: grūs Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about crane at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
Ardea herodias, the great blue heron.
A mechanical lifting machine or device, often used for lifting heavy loads for industrial or construction purposes.

verb

To extend (one's neck).
To raise or lower with, or as if with, a crane.
To pull up before a jump.

noun

The cranium.

noun

Alternative form of cran (“measure of herrings”).

Origin

From Middle English crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”). Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”), German Low German Kroon (“crane”), German Kran (“crane”). The mechanical devices are named from their likeness to the bird.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word