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Crow¹

(krō)

n. pl. Crow or Crows

1. A member of a Native American people formerly inhabiting an area of the northern Great Plains between the Platte and Yellowstone Rivers, now located in southeast Montana. The Crow became nomadic buffalo hunters after migrating west from the Missouri River in North Dakota in the 18th century.

2. The Siouan language of the Crow.

[Translation of terms for the Crow people in many Native American languages, such as Lakota, Yanktonai, and Santee k^hąγí wič^hasa, crow man : k^hąγí , crow + wič^hasa, man.]

crow¹

(krō)

1. Any of several large glossy black birds of the genus Corvus, having a characteristic raucous call, especially C. brachyrhynchos of North America.

2. A crowbar.

Idiom:

as the crow flies

In a straight line.

[Middle English croue, from Old English crāwe; see gerə-² in the Appendix of Indo-European roots. Sense 2, from the resemblance of its forked end to a crow's foot or beak.]

Crow²

(krō)

See Corvus.

crow²

(krō)

intr.v. crowed, crow·ing, crows

1. To utter the shrill cry characteristic of a rooster.

2. To exult over an accomplishment or piece of good fortune; boast. See Synonyms at boast¹.

3. To make a sound expressive of pleasure or well-being, characteristic of an infant.

1. The shrill cry of a rooster.

2. An inarticulate sound expressive of pleasure or delight.

[Middle English crouen, from Old English crāwan; see gerə-² in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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