crotal

See also: crotâl

English

Etymology 1

Either from French crotale or directly from Latin crotalum. Ultimately from Ancient Greek κρόταλον (krótalon, “clapper”). Doublet of crotalum.

Noun

crotal (plural crotals)

1. A crotalum, a type of clapper used in Ancient Greece.
2. A small round bell or rattle; a jingle bell.
   • 1970, Dorothy Malone Anthony, The World of Bells, page 14:

     The earliest type animal bell used was the crotal or sleigh bell. Rather than a round ball as we know it today, it was a birdcage style with pebble rolling around inside.

   • 1978, Nathaniel Spear, A Treasury of Archaeological Bells, page 14:

     The tumuli of most of these people have yielded bells, of both the crotal and swinging-clapper varieties.

Etymology 2

From Scottish Gaelic crotal.

Noun

crotal (plural crotals)

1. Alternative form of crottle (“a lichen used for dyeing”).

Irish

Alternative forms

• crotall

Etymology

From Middle Irish crotball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɾˠɔt̪ˠəlˠ/

Noun

crotal m (genitive singular crotail, nominative plural crotail)

1. husk, hull (outer covering of a fruit or seed)
2. dyer's moss (Roccella tinctoria)

Declension

Declension of crotal (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative crotal crotail vocative a chrotail a chrotala genitive crotail crotal dative crotal crotail forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an crotal na crotail genitive an chrotail na gcrotal dative leis an gcrotal don chrotal leis na crotail

Mutation

Mutated forms of crotal

radical	lenition	eclipsis
crotal	chrotal	gcrotal

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• “crotal”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “crottball”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904), “crotal”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla [Irish and English Dictionary], 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 200
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “crotal”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French crotale.

Noun

crotal m (plural crotali)

1. crotal bell
2. crotale (snake)

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	crotal	crotalul	crotali	crotalii
genitive-dative	crotal	crotalului	crotali	crotalilor
vocative	crotalule		crotalilor

Scots

Noun

crotal (plural crotals)

1. alternative form of crottle (“lichen used for dyeing; dye from lichen”)

Scottish Gaelic

Alternative forms

• cnotal

Etymology

From Middle Irish crotball.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰɾɔʰt̪əl̪ˠ/

Noun

crotal m (genitive singular crotail)

1. lichen in general
   1. crottle (Parmelia, particularly Parmelia saxatilis and omphalodes); used for producing red and brown dye
2. husk, rind

Mutation

Mutation of crotal

radical	lenition
crotal	chrotal

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.