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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

croon.

To hum or sing (a song or tune), or to speak (words), softly in a low pitch or in a sentimental manner; specifically, to sing (a popular song) in a low, mellow voice.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/kɹuːn/Received-Pronunciation/kɹun/General-American/krøn/Scotland/krʏn/Scotland
  1. To hum or sing (a song or tune), or to speak (words), softly in a low pitch or in a sentimental manner; specifically, to sing (a popular song) in a low, mellow voice.

    transitive
    He was crooning a song.
  2. To soothe (a person or an animal) by singing softly.

    transitive
  3. To hum or sing, or to speak, softly in a low pitch or in a sentimental manner; specifically, to sing a popular song in a low, mellow voice.

    intransitive
    She was crooning, but I couldn’t make out what the song was.
  4. To lament, to moan.

    Northern-England · Scotland · intransitive
  5. To make a continuous hollow low-pitched moan, as of cattle; to bellow, to low.

    Northern-England · Scotland · intransitive
  6. Of a large bell: to make a low-pitched sound.

    Northern-England · Scotland · intransitive
Where this word comes from

The verb is borrowed from Scots croon (“to utter a deep, long-drawn-out sound; to utter a lament, mourn; to sing in a wailing voice, whimper, whine; to mutter or sing in an undertone, hum”) [and other forms], from Middle English cronen (“to sing or speak softly, hum, croon”) (croyn (Scotland)) [and other forms], probably from Middle Dutch crônen, krônen (“to groan, moan; to lament”) (modern Dutch kreunen (“to moan”)), or Old High German chrônan, krônen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), probably from Proto-West Germanic *kraunijan, from Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”). The noun is partly: * borrowed from Scots croon (“a lament, wail; mournful song; low murmuring tune; (obsolete) long-drawn-out sound”), from croon (verb): see above; and * derived from the verb. Cognates * Middle Dutch krônen (modern Dutch kreunen (“to groan, moan; to lament”)) * Middle Low German kroenen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), kronen (“to growl; to grumble; to scold”) * Old High German chrônan, chrônnan (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”) * Saterland Frisian krȫnen (“to cause to weep”)

noun/kɹuːn/Received-Pronunciation/kɹun/General-American/krøn/Scotland/krʏn/Scotland
  1. A soft, low-pitched sound; specifically, a soft or sentimental hum, song, or tune.

  2. A continuous hollow low-pitched moan, as of cattle; a bellow.

    Northern-England · Scotland
  3. The low-pitched sound of a large bell.

    Northern-England · Scotland
Where this word comes from

The verb is borrowed from Scots croon (“to utter a deep, long-drawn-out sound; to utter a lament, mourn; to sing in a wailing voice, whimper, whine; to mutter or sing in an undertone, hum”) [and other forms], from Middle English cronen (“to sing or speak softly, hum, croon”) (croyn (Scotland)) [and other forms], probably from Middle Dutch crônen, krônen (“to groan, moan; to lament”) (modern Dutch kreunen (“to moan”)), or Old High German chrônan, krônen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), probably from Proto-West Germanic *kraunijan, from Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”). The noun is partly: * borrowed from Scots croon (“a lament, wail; mournful song; low murmuring tune; (obsolete) long-drawn-out sound”), from croon (verb): see above; and * derived from the verb. Cognates * Middle Dutch krônen (modern Dutch kreunen (“to groan, moan; to lament”)) * Middle Low German kroenen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), kronen (“to growl; to grumble; to scold”) * Old High German chrônan, chrônnan (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”) * Saterland Frisian krȫnen (“to cause to weep”)

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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.