crow

Meanings

Noun

• A bird, usually black, of the genus Corvus, having a strong conical beak, with projecting bristles; it has a harsh, croaking call.
• The cry of the bird known in the US as a rooster and in British English as a cockerel.
• Any of various dark-coloured nymphalid butterflies of the genus Euploea (genus).
• A bar of iron with a beak, crook or claw; a bar of iron used as a lever; a crowbar.
• A gangplank (corvus) used by the Ancient Roman navy to board enemy ships.
• The mesentery of an animal.
• A black person.
• The emblem of an eagle, a sign of military rank.

Verb

• To make the shrill sound characteristic of a rooster; to make a sound in this manner, either in gaiety, joy, pleasure, or defiance.
• To shout in exultation or defiance; to brag.
• To test the reed of a double reed instrument by placing the reed alone in the mouth and blowing it.

Origin

• From Middle English crowe, from Old English crāwe, from Proto-Germanic *krāwō (compare West Frisian krie, Dutch kraai, German Krähe), from *krāhaną ‘to crow’. See below.
• Middle English crowen, from Old English crāwan (past tense crēow, past participle crāwen), from Proto-Germanic *krēaną, from imitative Proto-Indo-European *gerH- ("to cry hoarsely").
• Compare Dutch kraaien, German krähen, Lithuanian gróti, Russian гра́ять). Related to croak.