# crux

> English word · Noun · IPA /kɹʌks/ · frequency rank #27,109

## Definitions
1. The basic, central, or essential point or feature.
2. The critical or transitional moment or issue, a turning point.
3. A puzzle or difficulty.
4. The hardest point of a climb.
5. A cross on a coat of arms.

## Etymology
From Latin crux (“cross, wooden frame for execution”), possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”). Doublet of cross and crouch (“cross”).

## Easily confused with
- **CU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cu)
- **CX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cx)
- **cut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cut)
- **cup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cup)
- **cry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cry)
- **cum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cum)
- **cuz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cuz)
- **cue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cue)
- **Cub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cub)
- **CSU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-csu)
- **cur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cur)
- **Cui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cui)
- **CSX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-csx)
- **Cruz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cruz)
- **Cyrus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crux-vs-cyrus)
- **CR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cr-vs-crux)
- **cox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cox-vs-crux)
- **CPU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cpu-vs-crux)
- **chu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chu-vs-crux)
- **CRT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crt-vs-crux)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ccrux`, `crrux`, `cruxx`, `crxu`, `curx`, `rcux`

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