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crone

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "crone", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "crone" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "crone" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

crone is aEnglishnoun. It means: An old woman. Pronounced /kɹoʊn/. Often confused with crop and crow.

Key facts for crone
PropertyValue
Headwordcrone
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɹoʊn/
Letters5
Frequency rank#47,002
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of crone in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for crone is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kɹoʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #47,002 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for crone, with forms such as "ccrone", "corne", and "crnoe". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "crop", "crow", "cross", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is crone, spelled C-R-O-N-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    An old woman.
  2. 2
    An archetypal figure, a wise woman.
  3. 3
    An ugly, evil-looking, or frightening old woman; a hag.
  4. 4
    An old ewe.
  5. 5
    An old man, especially one who talks and acts like an old woman.

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.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccrone,corne,crnoe,croen,cronne,crrone,rcone

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for crone

Misspelling Variants of "crone"

ccrone6corne5crnoe5croen5cronne6crrone6rcone5
Misspelling Variants of "crone"

Frequency rank: #47,002 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "crone"?
"crone" is spelled C-R-O-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹoʊn/.
What does "crone" mean?
As a noun, "crone" means: An old woman.
What words are commonly confused with "crone"?
"crone" is commonly confused with "crop", "crow", "cross". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "crone"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crone" is /kɹoʊn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "crone"?
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. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.