cranny.
A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance.
Meaning & usage
A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance.
A tool for forming the necks of bottles, etc.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English crany, crani (“cranny”), apparently a diminutive of *cran (+ -y), from Old French cran, cren (“notch, fissure”), a derivative of crener (“to notch, split”), from Medieval Latin crenō (“split”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *crinō (“split, break”, verb), of obscure origin; according to Watkins, of Gaulish origin, from Proto-Celtic *krīnos (“decayed, withered”). Despite a spurious use in Pliny, connection to Latin crēna (“notch, incision”) is doubtful. Instead, probably of Germanic or Celtic origin. Compare Old High German chrinna (“notch, groove, crevice”), Alemannic German Krinne (“small crack, channel, groove”), Low German karn (“notch, groove, crevice, cranny”), Old Irish ara-chrinin (“to perish, decay”).
To break into, or become full of, crannies.
To haunt or enter by crannies.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English crany, crani (“cranny”), apparently a diminutive of *cran (+ -y), from Old French cran, cren (“notch, fissure”), a derivative of crener (“to notch, split”), from Medieval Latin crenō (“split”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *crinō (“split, break”, verb), of obscure origin; according to Watkins, of Gaulish origin, from Proto-Celtic *krīnos (“decayed, withered”). Despite a spurious use in Pliny, connection to Latin crēna (“notch, incision”) is doubtful. Instead, probably of Germanic or Celtic origin. Compare Old High German chrinna (“notch, groove, crevice”), Alemannic German Krinne (“small crack, channel, groove”), Low German karn (“notch, groove, crevice, cranny”), Old Irish ara-chrinin (“to perish, decay”).
A clerk writing English.
A member of the East Indians, or mixed-race people, from among whom English copyists were chiefly recruited.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Hindustani किरानी (kirānī) / کِرانِی (kirānī).
Try it on your idea.
cranny has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.