Meaning and Origin
What does the name Cross mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Cross
User Submitted Origins
English
75%
Italian
17%
Hebrew
8%
User Submitted Meanings
- According to a user from Arizona, U.S., the name Cross is of English origin and means "Biblical name having to do with the crucifixion of Jesus".
- According to a user from Nevada, U.S., the name Cross is of English origin and means "Redemption. Nod to Christian crucifixion of Christ and salvation".
- According to a user from South Carolina, U.S., the name Cross is of English origin and means "Repersents jesus trust".
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Cross
Senses
- A gibbet, consisting of two pieces of timber placed transversely upon one another, in various forms, as a T, or +, with the horizontal piece below the upper end of the upright, or as an X. It was anciently used in the execution of criminals."Nailed to the cross By his own nation." [Milton.]
- The sign or mark of the cross, made with the finger, or in ink, etc., or actually represented in some material; the symbol of Christ's death; the ensign and chosen symbol of Christianity, of a Christian people, and of Christendom."The custom of making the sign of the cross with the hand or finger, as a means of conferring blessing or preserving from evil, is very old." [Schaff-Herzog Encyc.]"Before the cross has waned the crescent's ray." [Sir W. Scott.]"Tis where the cross is preached." [Cowper.]
- Affiction regarded as a test of patience or virtue; trial; disappointment; opposition; misfortune."Heaven prepares a good man with crosses." [B. Jonson.]
- A piece of money stamped with the figure of a cross, also, that side of such a piece on which the cross is stamped; hence, money in general."I should bear no cross if I did bear you; for I think you have no money in your purse." [Shak.]
- An appendage or ornament or anything in the form of a cross; a badge or ornamental device of the general shape of a cross; hence, such an ornament, even when varying considerably from that form; thus, the Cross of the British Order of St. George and St. Michael consists of a central medallion with seven arms radiating from it.
- [Arch] A monument in the form of a cross, or surmounted by a cross, set up in a public place; as, a market cross; a boundary cross; Charing Cross in London."Dun-Edin's Cross, a pillared stone, Rose on a turret octagon." [Sir W. Scott.]
- [Her] A common heraldic bearing, of which there are many varieties. See the Illustration, above.
- The crosslike mark or symbol used instead of a signature by those unable to write."Five Kentish abbesses . . . .subscribed their names and crosses." [Fuller.]
- Church lands.(Ireland)(Obs)
- A line drawn across or through another line.
- A mixing of breeds or stock, especially in cattle breeding; or the product of such intermixture; a hybrid of any kind." Toning down the ancient Viking into a sort of a cross between Paul Jones and Jeremy Diddler." [Lord Dufferin.]
- [Surveying] An instrument for laying of offsets perpendicular to the main course.
- [Mech] A pipe-fitting with four branches the axes of which usually form's right angle.
Etymology: OE. crois croys cros; the former fr. OF. crois croiz, F. croix, fr. L. crux; the second is perh. directly fr. Prov. cros crotz. fr. the same L. crux; cf. Icel. kross. Cf. Crucial Crusade Cruise Crux
adjective Cross
Senses
- Not parallel; lying or falling athwart; transverse; oblique; intersecting."The cross refraction of the second prism." [Sir I. Newton.]
- Not accordant with what is wished or expected; interrupting; adverse; contrary; thwarting; perverse."A crossfortune." [Jer. Taylor.]"The cross and unlucky issue of my design." [Glanvill.]"The article of the resurrection seems to lie marvelously cross to the common experience of mankind." [South.]"We are both love's captives, but with fates so cross, One must be happy by the other's loss." [Dryden.]
- Characterized by, or in a state of, peevishness, fretfulness, or ill humor; as, a cross man or woman."He had received a cross answer from his mistress." [Jer. Taylor.]
- Made in an opposite direction, or an inverse relation; mutually inverse; interchanged; as, cross interrogatories; cross marriages, as when a brother and sister marry persons standing in the same relation to each other.synonyms: Fretful; peevish. See Fretful.
preposition Cross
Athwart; across.
verb Cross
Senses
- To put across or athwart; to cause to intersect; as, to cross the arms.
- To lay or draw something, as a line, across; as, to cross the letter t.
- To pass from one side to the other of; to pass or move over; to traverse; as, to cross a stream."A hunted hare . . . crosses and confounds her former track." [ I. Watts.]
- To pass, as objects going in an opposite direction at the same time."Your kind letter crossedmine." [J. D. Forbes.]
- To run counter to; to thwart; to obstruct; to hinder; to clash or interfere with."In each thing give him way; cross him in nothing." [Shak.]"An oyster may be crossed in love." [ Sheridan.]
- To interfere and cut off; to debar.(Obs)"To cross me from the golden time I look for." [Shak.]
- To make the sign of the cross upon; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun; as, he crossed himself.
- To cancel by marking crosses on or over, or drawing a line across; to erase; -- usually with out off, or over; as, to cross out a name.
- To cause to interbreed; -- said of different stocks or races; to mix the breed of.
verb Cross
Senses
- To lie or be athwart.
- To move or pass from one side to the other, or from place to place; to make a transit; as, to cross from New York to Liverpool.
- To be inconsistent.(Obs)"Men's actions do not always cross with reason." [Sir P. Sidney.]
- To interbreed, as races; to mix distinct breeds."If two individuals of distinct races cross, a third is invariably produced different from either." [Coleridge.]
Other Dictionary Sources
- (genetics) the act of mixing different species or varieties of animals or plants and thus to produce hybrids
- (genetics) an organism that is the offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock; especially offspring produced by breeding plants or animals of different varieties or breeds or species ("a mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey")
- A representation of the structure on which Jesus was crucified; used as an emblem of Christianity or in heraldry
- A wooden structure consisting of an upright post with a transverse piece
- A marking that consists of lines that cross each other
- Any affliction that causes great suffering ("that is his cross to bear")
- Breed animals or plants using parents of different races and varieties ("cross a horse and a donkey" and "Mendel tried crossbreeding")
- Trace a line through or across ("cross your `t'")
- Travel across or pass over
- Meet and pass ("the trains crossed")
- Fold so as to resemble a cross ("she crossed her legs")
- Meet at a point
- Hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
- To cover or extend over an area or time period
- Annoyed and irritable
- Extending or lying across; in a crosswise direction; at right angles to the long axis ("cross members should be all steel")
Wiktionary
From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross (“cross”), perhaps from Old Irish cros (compare Welsh croes, Gaelic crois), from Latin crux (cruci). Cognate with Icelandic kross (“cross”), Faroese krossur (“cross”), Danish kors (“cross”), Swedish kors (“cross”). Displaced native Middle English rood (“rood, cross”), from Old English rōd (“cross, rood, crucifix, pole”); see rood. The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century.
- A geometrical figure consisting of two straight lines or bars intersecting each other such that at least one of them is bisected by the other.
- Put a for a wrong answer and a tick for a right one.
- (heraldry) Any geometric figure having this or a similar shape, such as a cross of Lorraine or a Maltese cross.
- A wooden post with a perpendicular beam attached and used (especially in the Roman Empire) to execute criminals (by crucifixion).
- Criminals were commonly executed on a wooden .
- (usually with the) The cross on which Christ was crucified.
- (Christianity) A hand gesture made in imitation of the shape of the Cross.
- She made the after swearing.
- (Christianity) A modified representation of the crucifixion stake, worn as jewellery or displayed as a symbol of religious devotion.
- She was wearing a on her necklace.
- (figurative, from Christ's bearing of the cross) A difficult situation that must be endured.
- It's a I must bear.
- The act of going across; the act of passing from one side to the other
- A quick of the road.
- (biology) An animal or plant produced by crossbreeding or cross-fertilization.
- (by extension) A hybrid of any kind.
- (boxing) A hook thrown over the opponent's punch.
- (soccer) A pass in which the ball travels from by one touchline across the pitch.
- A place where roads intersect and lead off in four directions; a crossroad (common in UK and Irish place names such as Gerrards Cross).
- A monument that marks such a place. (Also common in UK or Irish place names such as Charing Cross)
- (obsolete) A coin stamped with the figure of a cross, or that side of such a piece on which the cross is stamped; hence, money in general.
- (obsolete, Ireland) Church lands.
- A line drawn across or through another line.
- (surveying) An instrument for laying of offsets perpendicular to the main course.
- A pipe-fitting with four branches whose axes usually form a right angle.
- (Rubik's Cube) Four edge cubies of one side that are in their right places, forming the shape of a cross.
cross was also found in the following language(s): French and Italian