Where does “cranny” come from?
Cranny comes from English crank plus the English suffix -y, which derives from Middle French -ie, itself from Latin -ia and -ivus, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European -kos.
cranny (English): A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or...
Definitions
- A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or...
Ancestry of “cranny”, step by step
cranny traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English crany
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | crany | — |
| 2 | Middle English | cran | — |
| 3 | Old French | cran | — |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | cranium | skull |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | κρανίον | skull; head |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | κάρα | head, face; the head or top of anything, as of a... |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | *kárahə | — |
via Hindi किरानी
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hindi | किरानी | Eurasian, European, Christian |
| 2 | Hindi | किराना | things sold, groceries, spices |
| 3 | Prakrit | 𑀓𑀺𑀭𑀺𑀆𑀡 | goods for sale |
| 4 | Sanskrit | क्रयाणक | any purchasable object, ware |
| 5 | Sanskrit | -क | doer, maker |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-Aryan | *-kas | — |
via Medieval Latin creno
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medieval Latin | creno | split |