/kɹuːs/, /kɹuːz/
OriginFrom Middle English crouse, from Old English crūse (“jar, cruse”), from Proto-West Germanic *krūsā, from Proto-Germanic *krūsǭ, *krūsaz (“jar, pot, collar, jug”). Cognate with German Krause (“pot with a lid”), Icelandic krús (“jar, jug”). Merged with Middle English croo (“pot, pitcher”), from Old English crōg (“crock, pitcher, vessel”). More at crock.
- archaicA small jar used to hold liquid, such as oil or water.
“With a thought I tooke for Maudline
& a cruse of cockle pottage.
with a thing thus tall, skie blesse you all:
I befell into this dotage.”
“He had dipped ungenerously into a generous mother’s purse; basely and recklessly spilt her little cruse.”
- uncommonAn oil lamp; a crusy.
- A surname.
- An unincorporated community in Clay County, Illinois, United States.
Formscruses(plural) · cruise(alternative) · cruze(alternative, rare)