crine

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: krīn, IPA^(key): /kɹaɪn/
• Rhymes: -aɪn

Etymology 1

From Scots crine (“to shrivel”), from Scottish Gaelic crìon (“withered”), from Old Irish crín.

Verb

crine (third-person singular simple present crines, present participle crining, simple past and past participle crined)

1. (intransitive, Scotland) To wither, wilt, shrivel.

Etymology 2

From Middle French crine (whence also French crin), Italian crine, or directly from Latin crīnis (“hair of the head, lock of hair, plume”).

Noun

crine (countable and uncountable, plural crines)

1. (obsolete) Hair of the head.

Etymology 3

Verb

crine

2. Pronunciation spelling of crying, representing African-American Vernacular English

   I'm crine 😭

Related terms

• crode

Further reading

• “crine, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “crine, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin crīnis, from Proto-Italic *kriznis, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kre-i-s-, extension of the root *(s)ker- (“to turn; to bend”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkri.ne/
• Rhymes: -ine
• Hyphenation: crì‧ne

Noun

crine m (plural crini)

1. any hair from the mane or tail of a horse or other similar animal
   1. horsehair
      • 13^th century, “Del conoscimento della bellezza de’ Cavalli”, in Trattato dell'agricoltura [Treatise On Agriculture]‎^[1], translation of Opus ruralium commodorum libri XII by Pietro De' Crescenzi, published 1605, page 405:

        I crini sien piani, e pochi

        The hairs should be straight, and few

2. (collective) a mass of such hair
3. a fabric made from such hair
4. (poetic) a hair

   Synonym: capello

   • 1348, Giovanni Villani, “Libro quinto [Fifth Book]”, in Nuova Cronica [New Chronicle]‎^[2], published 1991:

     tutto spogliata di vestimenti, e’ crini del capo diligentemente scrinati

     Completely stripped of clothes, and [with] diligently styled hair

5. (poetic, collective) hair

   Synonym: capelli

   • c. 1340, Giovanni Boccaccio, Teseida‎^[3], section 30, page 381:

     Con rabbuffata barba e tristo crine

     With ruffled beard and messed-up hair

   • 1835, Giacomo Leopardi with Alessandro Donati, “Il sabato del villaggio”, in Canti‎^[4], Bari: Einaudi, published 1917, page 95:

     ornare ella si appresta ¶ dimani, al dí di festa, il petto e il crine

     She prepares to ornate, tomorrow, on the day of the festival, the chest and the hair

6. tail (visible stream from a comet)

   Synonym: coda

   • 1581, Annibale Caro, transl., Eneide [Aeneid]‎^[5], Florence: Leonardo Ciardetti, translation of Aeneis by Virgil, published 1827, Libro V, page 243:

     Tal sovente dal ciel divelta cade ¶ Notturna stella, e trascorrendo lascia ¶ Dopo sè lungo e luminoso il crine.

     Like that, a night star torn from the sky often falls, and, passing, it leaves after itself long and bright tail.

7. (poetic) ray, beam

   Synonym: raggio

   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno [The Divine Comedy: Hell], 12th edition (paperback), Le Monnier, published 1994, Canto ⅩⅩⅣ, page 355, lines 1–3:

     In quella parte del giovanetto anno ¶ che ’l sole i crin sotto l'Aquario tempra

     In that part of the young year where the Sun makes the rays warm under the Aquarius

8. (Tuscany) synonym of crinale

Derived terms

• scrinare

Related terms

• crina
• crinale

Further reading

• “crine”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• cerni

Latin

Noun

crīne

1. ablative singular of crīnis

Scots

Alternative forms

• cryne

Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic crìon (“to fade, wither”).

Verb

crine

1. to shrink, shrivel

Usage notes

Often in the phrase "to crine in", meaning to become smaller in old age.

Descendants

• English: crine

Spanish

Verb

crine

1. inflection of crinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative