# cancrine

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈkæŋkɹaɪn/

## Definitions
1. Of or pertaining to crabs.
2. Palindromic; reading the same forwards or backwards.
3. Of or pertaining to reading something backwards.

## Etymology
From Latin cancer (“crab”) + -īnus, as if from *cancrīnus. The poetry sense comes from the fact that most species of crab can walk sideways, either left or right.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cancrine