cranny means A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance.
cranny is pronounced /ˈkɹæni/.
Why “cranny” is a great word
A small, narrow opening, fissure, or chink, as in a wall or rock. From Middle English crany, crani, a diminutive of *cran, from Old French cran, cren ("notch, fissure"), from crener ("to notch, split"), from Medieval Latin crenō ("split"), of obscure origin, possibly Germanic or Celtic. Unlike a crevice, which suggests a deeper, geological rift, or a chink, which implies a gap of light or a flaw in a join, a cranny is a shallow, intimate recess worn by time rather than force. It is the dusty seam behind a kitchen cabinet, the lichen-lined socket where a seed finds purchase, the narrow gap beneath a stone step where a lizard vanishes at dusk—each a whisper of space in the solid world, the humblest architecture of concealment.
Etymology
From Middle English crany, crani (“cranny”), apparently a diminutive of *cran (+ -y), from Old French cran, cren (“notch, fissure”), a derivative of crener (“to notch, split”), from Medieval Latin crenō (“split”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *crinō (“split, break”, verb), of obscure origin.
Despite a spurious use in Pliny, connection to Latin crēna is doubtful. Instead, probably of Germanic or Celtic origin. Compare Old High German chrinna (“notch, groove, crevice”), Alemannic German Krinne (“small crack, channel, groove”), Low German karn (“notch, groove, crevice, cranny”), Old Irish ara-chrinin (“to perish, decay”).
noun
- A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance.e.g.“Down thro the Cranies of the living Walls / The Crystal Streams descend in murm'ring Falls”
- A tool for forming the necks of bottles, etc.
- A clerk writing English.
- A member of the East Indians, or mixed-race people, from among whom English copyists were chiefly recruited.
verb
- To break into, or become full of, crannies.e.g.“The ground did cranie everie where and light did pierce to hell.”
- To haunt or enter by crannies.e.g.“All tenantless, save to the crannying wind.”
Words closest in meaning
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