crone means an old woman. It carries an Arena rating of 1705, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, crone ranks #488 of 13,218 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #645 of 13,218 for Most Malleable Words, #945 of 13,218 for Scariest Words, #1,904 of 13,218 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
crone is pronounced /kɹoʊn/.
Why “crone” is a great word
CRONE — [Noun] An old woman, especially one who is considered ugly, malicious, or, in some modern contexts, archetypally wise. From Middle English crone, from Anglo-Norman carogne, from Old French charogne ("carrion, carcass, old sheep, hag"). Unlike a "sage," which suggests venerated, abstract wisdom, or a "hag," which conjures specific, sinister enchantment, "crone" occupies the stark borderland where physical decay intersects with hard-won, unsettling knowledge. She is the gnarled hand sorting bones by a cottage hearth, the unblinking eye that sees through pretense, the voice that rasps a truth too sharp for polite company—the necessary, feared, and final shape of a woman who has outlived the world's fondness.
Etymology
From Middle English crone, from Anglo-Norman carogne (compare central Old French charogne (a term of abuse, literally “carrion, carcass, old sheep, hag”), whence modern French charogne). Doublet of carrion.
noun
- An old woman.“But still the crone was constant to her note.”
- An archetypal figure, a wise woman.““And what is your name, crispy, old, wizened crone?” “Oh, my name's Helen.” “Hel-- Oh, just Helen. That's it. Just Helen?” “Helen the Magic Woman.” “And you can help me rid myself of this disgusting hex?” “Yes.””
- An ugly, evil-looking, or frightening old woman; a hag.“With black unseeing eyes the old woman, the crone, stares at him and through him. Over and over she mutters a word that he cannot quite catch, something like Toomderoom.”
- An old ewe.“In traveling homeward, buy forty good crones, and fat up the bodies of those seely bones”
- An old man, especially one who talks and acts like an old woman.“The old crone [a negro man] lived in a hovel, in the midst of a small patch of potatoes and Indian corn, which his master had given him on setting him free.”
- One of the triune goddesses of the Lady in Wicca alongside the Mother and Maiden, representing an old woman.“[…] different stages of life as represented by our Lady as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, as well as our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.