crone
crone Lexical Profile
crone Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An ugly, withered, or malicious-looking old woman, often depicted as a stock character in folklore and fairy tales.
"In the traditional folktale, the disguised fairy appears at the cottage door as a hunched crone begging for shelter."
In feminist spirituality and neopaganism, an archetype representing a wise, experienced older woman in the third stage of life, following the maiden and the mother.
"The novel reimagines the village elder not as an outcast, but as a revered crone whose knowledge of medicinal herbs saves the community."
Word Nuance & Usage
Traditionally used as a pejorative or literary term for a withered old woman, "crone" has been reclaimed in modern neopagan and feminist contexts to honor an older woman of wisdom and experience.
• Rhymes for crone
Word Origin & Etymology
Dating back to the late 14th century in Middle English, the word was borrowed from Middle Dutch "kronje" (meaning an old ewe or carcass), which itself derived from Old Northern French "carogne" (meaning carrion or a cantankerous woman).