Also crois, croice; corse: see below. [English has had several types of this word, derived by different channels from L. cruc-em (nom. crux, in late L. crucis, It. croce, Pr. crotz, Sp. cruz, OF. cruiz, croiz, later crois). The native name was OE. ród, ROOD; but in late OE. the L. word appears to have been adopted in the form crúc (with final c palatalized, according to Italian pronunciation), whence ME. crūche, crouche. At a date perhaps earlier, the form cros appeared in the N. and E. of England, being app. the Norse kross, adopted from OIrish cros (pl. crosa), ad. L. cruc-em. In OE., cros is known only in local nomenclature, as Normannes cros; cf. such northern place-names as Crosby, Crosthwaite, etc.; according to Wace (c. 1175) Olicrosse! (= háliʓ cros), referring app. to the Holy Rood of Waltham, was the battle-cry of Harold at Hastings. After the Conquest, the OF. croiz, crois was introduced as croiz, crois, croys, later croice, and in early ME. southern writers was the more frequent form; but it became obs. in the 15th c., leaving the northern cros (crosse, cross) as the surviving type. The later Norse (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) kors appears in Scotland and Northumbria as corse, cors, corss, and still lingers in Scotland both in proper names (e.g., Corserig, Corstorphine, etc.) and dialect speech.
Although cros, croice, corse, might, in view of their immediate derivation, be treated as distinct words, it is most convenient in tracing the sense-development to deal with them together: CROUCH is treated separately.]
A. Forms. α. 1–6 cros, 4–7 crosse, (4–5 croos, 4–7 croce, 5–6 crose), 5– cross.
963–84. Recd. of Gifts of Bp. Aðelwold to Medeshamstede, in Birch, Cartul. Saxon., III. 367. Or þam twam hundredum þe secæð into Normannes cros man aʓeaf [etc.].
c. 1175. Wace, Roman de Rou, 13, 119. Olicrosse sovent crioent … Olicrosse est en engleiz Ke Sainte Croix est en franceiz.
c. 1205. Lay., 31386. He lette sone arere a muchel cros and mare.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21637 (Cott.). Meracles o þe cros [F. crossis, G. crois, E. croicis] might.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter xvi. 12. In þe crosse hyngand.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 109. Þe peple cryde, Do him on þe croos. Ibid. (1382), Phil. ii. 8. The deeth of cross [many MSS. the cros].
1588. A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., 189. The deathe of the croce.
1611. Bible, John xix. 25. There stood by the crosse of Iesus.
1654. J. Nicoll, Diary (1836), 125. At the Mercat Croce of Edinburgh.
1685. Evelyn, Diary, 16 Sept. The true Crosse.
β. 3–4 croiz, croyz, creoiz, creoice, creoix, 4–5 (6 Sc.) crois, croys, croyce, croice.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 18. A large creoiz. Ibid., 46. And þeonne vour creoices. Ibid., 346. Ualleð … a creoix.
c. 1275. O. E. Misc., 50. Lyht adun of þe croyz.
a. 1300. Leg. Rood, 34. And boþe croys [c. 1350 Þe twey croyses] eke þer-wiþ.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21792 (Cott.). Beside þe crois [v.r. croice, cros, croz].
c. 1300. Beket, 1884. With croiz and with tapres.
c. 1394. P. Pl. Crede, 805. & on þe crois dyede.
1413. Lydg., Pylgr. Sowle, IV. xx. (1483), 67. He hanged … vpon the croys.
c. 1450. Mirour Saluacioun, 2491. How crist bere … the croice.
γ. 5–6 cors, 5–7 corss, (6 corsz, corce), 5– corse.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Chron., V. x. 78 (Jam.). Elane that syne fand the Cors.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, II. 22. Wallace … ȝeid to the merkat cors.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay, 29. The wisdome of the corsz. Ibid., 44. Apone the cors.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 363. (title) How Sanct Andro apperit, and of his Cors in the air. Ibid. Sanct Androis corce. Ibid. Quhat that corss suld mene.
1615. [see 13] Corss.
1786. Burns, To J. Kennedy, i. Mauchline corse.
1813. [see 7 c] Corse.
B. Signification. I. The instrument of crucifixion with its representations and fig. applications.
1. A kind of gibbet used by the ancients (and in later times by some non-Christian nations); a stake, generally with a transverse bar, on which they put to a cruel and ignominious death certain criminals, who were nailed or otherwise fastened to it by their extremities.
The general sense does not appear in Eng. so early as the specific (2), being mostly of modern occurrence in works on Ancient History: but early mention of the cross occurs also in Christian Martyrology and Saints’ Lives. In the Vulgate crux is applied widely to any gibbet or gallows on which malefactors were hung, and is there also literally rendered cros, crosse by Wyclif.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21533 (Cott.). He fand tua crosses [v.r. croices].
1382. Wyclif, Gen. xl. 19. Pharao shal … honge thee in the crosse. Ibid., Esther v. 15. Aman … comaundide to be maad redi an heiȝ cros.
1460. Capgrave, Chron. (1858), 60. Andrew was … martired on a crosse.
1483. Cath. Angl., 84. To do on Crosse, crucifigere.
1741. Earl of Hardwicke, in Athenian Lett. (1792), II. 115. Apollonides the physician was condemned to the cross, and executed just before we left Susa.
1827. Heber, Hymn, ‘The Son of God.’ Twelve valiant saints, their hope they knew, And mock’d the cross and flame.
1844. Thirlwall, Greece, VIII. 205. The body of Cleomenes was flayed and hung on a cross.
2. spec. The particular wooden structure on which Jesus Christ suffered death, believed to have consisted of an upright post, with a horizontal cross-bar; the holy rood. (Often written with capital C.)
The identical cross is believed by large bodies of Christians to have been found buried in the ground, by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, in 326; hence, the legend of its finding or invention, the adoration of the fragments of it, and stories of miracles wrought by it, play an important part in the religious literature of the Middle Ages. In this connection the word is often qualified as holy, real, true, Saint Cross. Stations, way of the Cross: see STATION, WAY. The antecedent history of this sense in English is found under the earlier name ROOD.
c. 1275. O. E. Misc., 48. Do a rode! do a rode! Ibid., 50. Lyht adun of þe croyz.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 3/78. Huy founden roden þreo … Þo nusten huy of þe þreo þo holie croyz þat huy souȝten ȝwich it miȝte beo.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 8507 (Cott.). Þe croce [F., T. cros, G. crois] O ihesu crist.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter xxi. 1. Crist … when he hyngid on þe crosse.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pard. T., 623. By the croys [so 2 MSS., 3 cros, 2 crosse] which þat seint Eleyne fond.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XXI. vii. Somme men say … that kyng Arthur … shal come ageyn & he shal wynne the holy crosse.
1535. Coverdale, John xix. 19. Pilate wrote a superscripcion and set vpon the crosse.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., I. i. 26. Those blessed feete … nail’d on the bitter Crosse.
1685. Evelyn, Diary, 16 Sept. A little fragment, as was thought, of the true Crosse.
1782. Priestley, Corrupt. Chr., I. V. 387. Images … according to the form of the venerable cross.
1844. E. Warburton, Crescent & Cross, xxii. (1858), 239. The hole in the rock where the Cross stood.
1867. Bp. Forbes, Explan. 39 Art., xxxi. (1871), 616. On the Cross, the full satisfaction was paid.
† b. By (God’s) cross, as an oath. Obs.
c. 1420. Anturs of Arth., viii. These knyȝtes are vn-curtas, by cros, and by crede!
1575. J. Still, Gammer Gurton, V. ii. Else had my hens be stol’n … by Gods cross.
† c. A prayer used in the adoration of the cross. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 28. Seie sumne oðer of ðe creoiz.
3. The sign of the cross made with the right hand, as a religious act. The full expression, sign of the cross, is now usual: see b.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 728. Heo wið Cristes cros cruchede hire ouer al.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 18. Makieð on ower muþe mit te þume a creoiz.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 18338 (Cott.). Þe lauerd lift hand … And on adam a croice he made.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 781. Þe childe a crosse þar on made.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Baptisme, Then he shall make a crosse upon the childes forehead and breste.
1816. Scott, Harold, V. xvii. He sign’d the cross divine.
1861. Sir H. W. Baker, Hymn, ‘’Tis done; that new and heavenly birth,’ ii. ’Tis done; the Cross upon the brow Is marked for weal or sorrow now.
b. c. 1315. Shoreham, 15. Ich signi the with signe of croys, And with the creme of hele Confermi.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XIV. ix. He made a sygne of the crosse in his forhede.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Baptisme, Receyue the signe of the holy Crosse.
1645. Evelyn, Diary, May. In the Greek Church they made the signe of the Crosse from the right hand to the left; contrary to the Latines and the Schismatic Greekes.
1857. Mrs. Gatty, Parables from Nat., Ser. II. (1868), 23. If it had not thundered, the peasant had not made the sign of the cross.
† c. To fall on cross, a cross [= MHG. an ein crütze vallen]: to fall crosswise with outstretched arms, in supplication. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 346. Ualleð biuoren ower weoued a creoix to þer eorðe.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 7315. Fel on croice … And seyd sir for Godes gras, Thine help.
4. A representation or delineation of a cross on any surface, varying in elaborateness from two lines crossing each other to an ornamental design painted, embroidered, carved, etc.; used as a sacred mark, symbol, badge, or the like.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 50. Þe cloð in ham [the windows] beo twouold: blac cloð; þe creoiz hwit wiðinnen & wiðuten … Þus bitockneð hwit croiz þe ward of hwit chastite.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21678 (Cott.). O þat blisced lambs blod A cros was mad in signe o rode.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XIII. xi. Therupon that sheld he made a crosse of his owne blood.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 266. Forbad also in paithment or in streit To mak ane cors quhair men ȝeid on thair feit.
1591. Spenser, M. Hubberd, 195. In a blew jacket with a crosse of redd.
1645. Evelyn, Diary, 15 Feb. Shut up with broad stones, and now and then a crosse or a palme cut in them.
1700. J. Jackson, 24 April, in Pepys’ Diary & Corr. (1879), VI. 218. His [the Pope’s] slipper of crimson velvet, with a gold cross embroidered upon it.
1823. Lockhart, Anc. Span. Ball., Dragut, i. The cross upon yon banner … It is the sign of victory—the cross of the Maltese.
1872. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 344. To write letters to his episcopal foe, signed with a cross and his name: ‘✠ Voltaire, Capucin indigne.’
† b. Cross of Christ, also Croscrist: the cross prefixed to the alphabet or CROSSROW; the alphabet itself as the first step in learning. Obs.
c. 1450. Bk. Curtasye, 144, in Babees Bk., 303. This lessoun schalle þy maistur þe merke Croscrist þe spede in alle þi werke.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 290. To turne agayne to theyr A. B. C. and lerne the crosse of Chryst agayne.
c. To take († fong or nim) the cross: to accept the sign or badge of a cross in ratification of a vow, to engage in a crusade.
For the history of this see CROISE v.
c. 1290. Beket, 7, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 106. Gilbert Bekat … him bi-þouȝte þe Croiz for-to fo In-to þe holie land.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 346. Roberd duc of Normandye þe croys nom atten ende, And ȝarked hym wyþ oþere to þe holylonde to wende.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 226. Sir Edward toke the croice, for his fader to go.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 80. Baldwyn … preached, and exhorted men to take the Crosse.
1882. Freeman, Reign Will. Rufus, I. iv. § 6. 562. Bohemond took the cross, and rent up a goodly cloak into crosses for his followers.
5. A model or figure of a cross as a religious emblem, set up in the open air or within a building, worn round the neck, etc.
c. 1205. Lay., 31386. He lette sone arere a muchel cros and mare.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XVII. xv. One helde a candel of waxe brennyng and the other held a crosse.
1501. Bury Wills (1850), 88. I bequeth to the parson of Berkhamstede a Seynt Antony crosse.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 801. The Byshops delivered to the king … the Ball with the Crosse in his left hande.
1648. Ord. 29 Aug., in Scobell, Acts & Ord. (1658), I. cxviii. 175. Worshippers of Images, Crosses, Crucifixes, or Reliques.
1878. Edith Thompson, Hist. Eng., iii. 16. At … Heavenfield … Oswald set up a wooden cross—the first Christian sign reared in Bernicia.
6. A staff surmounted by the figure of a cross, borne in religious processions, and esp. as an emblem of office before an archbishop.
c. 1290. Beket, 1848, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 159. Seint Thomas … to Caunterburi him drouȝ … With croyz and with taperes þe contreie a-ȝein him drouȝ.
1460. Capgrave, Chron., 134. Prelatis, with here crosses and croses.
c. 1465. Eng. Chron. (Camden, 1856), 94. Thomas Bourchier archebysshop of Caunterbury … wythe hys crosse before hym, went forthe … toward Londoun.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 75. A great contention arose … whether the Archebishop of Yorke might beare his Crosse in the Diocesse of Cauntorbury or no.
1645. Evelyn, Diary, 11 April. Some of the religious orders and fraternities sung … the lights and crosses going before.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, II. xxii. With many a torch-bearer before, And many a cross behind.
1849. Rock, Ch. of Fathers, II. 232. An archbishop is seen figured leaning on the staff of his cross.
7. A monument in the form of a cross, or having a cross upon it, erected in places of resort, at cross-ways, etc., for devotional purposes, or as a devout or solemn memorial of some event, as a grave-stone, and the like.
Often also serving to indicate a preaching or meeting place, and qualified as market-, preaching-, weeping-cross, for which see these words.
c. 1420. Sir Amadace, xxx. Quen he come sex mile the citè fro, A crosse partut the way a-toe.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, IV. v. He … rode longe in a forest tyll they came to a crosse, and there alyȝt and sayd his prayers deuoutely.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 677. Into Stanemure ane cors of stane wes set, Quhair the merchis of thir tua kingis met.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., V. i. 31. She doth stray about By holy crosses where she kneeles and prayes For happy wedlocke houres.
1643. Evelyn, Diary, Nov. In the way were faire crosses of stone carv’d with fleurs de lys at every furlong’s end.
1851. D. Wilson, Preh. Ann., II. IV. iv. 283. Memorial crosses, graven with inscriptions in the Northern Runes.
b. spec. The monument of this kind occupying a central position in a town or village, formerly used as a center for markets, meetings, proclamations, etc.; a market-cross.
c. 1465. Eng. Chron. (Camden, 1856), 75. [Bp. Pocock] vtterly abiured, reuoked, and renounced the sayde articles opynly at Powles Crosse.
1553. Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden), 80. The xix. day of [July] … was proclamyd lady Ma[ry to] be qwene of Ynglond at the crose in Cheppe.
1554. Chron. Q. Mary (Camden, 1850), 78. Ther preched at Poles crosse one doctour Watson.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., I. i. 137. To be whipt at the hie crosse euerie morning.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Sing, Thou hast not cried it at the crosse.
1702. Lond. Gaz., 3869/3. The Mayor and all the Company went … to the two Crosses, where Bonfires were prepared.
1786. Burns, To J. Kennedy, i. If foot or horse E’er bring you in by Mauchline Corse.
1829. Scott, Rob Roy, Introd. Birrell … reports that he was hanged at the Cross.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 480. The newly elected members went in state to the City Cross.
c. A market-place, market. Now only local.
1577. Harrison, England, II. xviii. (1877), I. 298. They begin to sell … by the bushell or two … therby to be seene to keepe the crosse. Ibid. (1587), 300. The crosses sufficientlie furnished of all things.
1724. Ramsay, Tea-t. Misc. (1733), I. 61. When ye gae to the cross then … Buy me a pacing horse then.
1813. Picken, Poems, I. 906 (Jam.). The cadies rang’d about the Corse For messages ay ready.
8. fig. Used as the ensign and symbol of Christianity; the Christian religion, esp. when opposed to other religions. (In later use it becomes more fig., as in messenger, preacher, servant of the cross: cf. next.)
Soldier, warrior of the Cross: a crusader; hence fig. one actively zealous for the advancement of Christianity.
c. 1325. Poem Times Edw. II., 249, in Pol. Songs (Camden), 334. Hii sholde gon to the Holi Lond … And fihte there for the croiz.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., IV. i. 94. Streaming the Ensigne of the Christian Crosse, Against black Pagans, Turkes, and Saracens.
1659. B. Harris, Parival’s Iron Age, 81. Let us now take leave of the Countries, of the Half Moon … and return … into those of the Crosse.
1756–7. trans. Keysler’s Trav. (1760), II. 199. Constantine, in acknowledgment of his signal victory obtained by the cross, was baptized on this spot.
1812. Byron, Ch. Har., I. xxxv. Red gleam’d the cross, and waned the crescent pale.
1830. J. B. Waterbury, Hymn, Soldiers of the Cross, arise.
1892. Q. Rev., Jan., 61. A Sufi … is, by profession, tolerant or even sympathetic in the presence of the Cross.
9. fig. The crucifixion and death of Christ as the culmination of His redemptive mission, and the central fact of the Christian religion; the atonement wrought on the cross.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 45. By þyn holy crois þu hast aȝen bouȝt þe world. Ibid. (1382), 1 Cor. i. 18. For the word of the cros is folye sothli to men perischinge.
1549. Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, By thy crosse and passion … Good lorde deliuer us.
1603. Const. & Canons Eccles., No. 30.
1611. Bible, 1 Cor. i. 18. The preaching of the Crosse.
1782. Cowper, Progr. Err., 622. The Cross once seen is death to every vice.
1845. G. A. Poole, Churches, iv. 27. The doctrine of the cross, as the one great rule and hope of the world.
1891. T. Mozley, The Son, xxxvii. 232. Rome, which insists more on the cross than on the divine character, the divine life, and the divine teaching.
10. A trial or affliction viewed in its Christian aspect, to be borne for Christ’s sake with Christian patience; often in phr. to bear, take one’s cross, with reference to Matt. x. 38, xvi. 24, etc.
1382. Wyclif, Matt. x. 38. He that takith nat his crosse, and sueth me, is not worthi of me.
1528. Tindale, Obed. Chr. Man, Doctr. Treat. (Parker Soc.), 310. Mark what a cross God suffered to fall on the neck of his elect Jacob.
1549. Crowley, Last Trump, 62 A. iii. Though thou shouldest perishe for fode, Yet beare thou thy crosse patientely.
1644–5. Direct. Publ. Prayer, in Scobell, Acts & Ord. (1658), I. li. 79. To pray for … the sanctified use of blessings and crosses.
1669. Penn (title) (1682), No Cross, no Crown. A Discourse Shewing … that the … daily Bearing of Christ’s Cross, is the alone Way to the Rest and Kingdom of God.
1779. Cowper, Olney Hymns, xxviii. We learn our lighter cross to bear.
b. In a general sense: A trouble, vexation, annoyance; misfortune, adversity; sometimes (under the influence of the verb) Anything that thwarts or crosses. Cf. sense 27.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 17. To banish house of blasphemie, least crosses crosse vnluckelie.
1580. Sidney, Arcadia, II. (1590), 198 (J.). Wishing vnto me many crosses & mischances in my loue, whensoeuer I should loue.
1614. Bp. Hall, Recoll. Treat., 120. Crosses, after the nature of the Cockatrice, die if they be foreseene. Ibid. (1649), Cases Consc. (1650), 224. Camillus … wished some great crosse might befall Rome for the tempering of so high a felicity.
1693. Mem. Ct. Teckely, IV. 10. If it has met with some Crosses of Fortune, it is not in a danger for all that to be overthrown.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. x. After all his losses and crosses.
1853. C. Brontë, Villette, xxxvii. Doubtless they knew crosses, disappointments, difficulties.
1866. Mrs. H. Wood, St. Martin’s Eve, iii. (1889), 19. Her ordinary crosses had been but light ones, which she scolded or talked away.
II. Any figure or object of this shape.
11. Any object, figure or mark of the same shape as the instrument of crucifixion, i.e., of two bars or lines crossing each other, used as a sign, ornament, etc. † Cross in the hands: a finger-post.
For the various kinds of crosses, see sense 18.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 294. Wiþ an hoot iren make a cros upon þe middil of þe passioun as depe as þe deed fleisch is.
1547. in Vicary’s Anat. (1888), App. iii. 161. Euerye howseholder … whych … hath bein vysyted with the plage … shall cause to be fyxed … a certein Crosse of saynt Anthonye devysed for that purpose [etc.].
1563. Fulke, Meteors (1640), 45. Raynebowes … crosses, and divers lights … by divers refractions and reflections of beames.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 494. They make a little Cross of a Quill.
1643. Evelyn, Diary, 24 Dec. The body of the Church formes a Crosse.
1762. Foote, Orator, I. A cross in the hands, with letters to direct you on your road. Ibid. (1771), Maid of B., I. Pushing forth his fingers like a cross in the hands to point out the different roads on a common.
1776. Withering, Brit. Plants (1796), I. 296. 4 petals, forming a cross.
1828. Jane Seaton, ix. (ed. 2), 61. Her only ornament, a golden chain with a Cornelian Cross attached to it.
b. A similar mark or sign of small size used to mark a passage in a book, etc.; a mark made, in place of his signature, by one who cannot write.
In the latter case originally belonging to 4.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., I. § 5. The whiche lyne, from a lityl croys + in the bordure vn-to the centre of the large hole.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 36. Now will I make a crosse on this gate.
1588. J. Mellis, Briefe Instr., F ij b. In the margent … yee shall set a crosse + which signifieth the error to rectify in the proper place.
1687. W. Sherwin, in Magd. Coll. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), 225. Charnock … crossed all their names. They … struck off their crosses.
1853. Lytton, My Novel, V. ix. He sate … with his steel-pen in his hand, and making crosses here and notes of interrogation there.
c. A natural cross-shaped marking.
1824. Bewick, Hist. Quadrupeds (ed. 8), 239. It has the Mule-cross on the withers like most of the Barbary Caracals.
1855. Wood, Anim. Life (ed. 2), 420. There is also a black mark running along the spine, and another crossing the shoulders, the two forming a cross.
12. A constellation within the Antarctic Circle, in which four bright stars are arranged somewhat in the figure of a cross; more fully Southern Cross.
1555. Eden, Decades, 239. The starres cauled the Crosse, are seene very hyghe. Ibid., 253.
1594. Blundevil, Exerc., IV. xix. (ed. 7), 473. There are lately found out … foure other Images towards the South Pole, as the Crosse or Crosier, the South Triangle.
1671. Narborough, Jrnl., in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. (1711), 48. A small black Cloud, which the foot of the Cross is in.
1700. S. L., trans. Fryke’s Voy. E. Ind. 353. We saw again the Northern Star to our great Joy; till then we had only the Southern Cross in sight.
1867. Lockyer, Guillemin’s Heavens (ed. 2), 333. The Southern Cross—the pole-star of the South.
1892. R. Kipling, Barrack-room Ball., Eng. Flag, ix. Where the lone wave fills with fire beneath the Southern Cross.
13. Formerly in Scotland: A signal (app. orig. a cross formed of two sticks charred and dipped in blood) sent through the district to summon the inhabitants: see CROSTARIE, FIRE- or FIERY-CROSS.
1615. Act Bailiary, in Barry, Orkney (1805), App. 458 (Jam.). Ilk house and family shall carefully and diligently direct the corss … to his next neighbours, with ane sufficient bearer, for admonishing the people … to conveen.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng. (1871), I. v. 269. The mysterious cross of yew, first set on fire, and then quenched in the blood of a goat, was sent forth to summon all the Campbells, from sixteen to sixty.
14. A part of an anchor, hinge, or other object, which occupies a position transverse to the main part. † b. The cross-piece dividing the blade of a sword, etc., from the hilt, and serving as a guard to the hand; the cross-guard. Obs.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, IX. xxxix. Kynge Marke … kneled adoune and made his othe vpon the crosse of the suerd.
c. 1477. Caxton, Jason, 102 b. His swerde … into the paunche of the dragon up to the crosse.
1590. Sir J. Smyth, Disc. Weapons, 4. Short arming Daggers of convenient forme and substance, without hilts, or with little short crosses.
1703. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 18. When the Joint … on the Tail, is pind in the Joint … in the Cross, the whole Hinge is called a Cross-Garnet.
1709. Lond. Gaz., No. 4570/4. Lost … a piece of Anchor, being the Cross and a peice of the Shank.
† 15. The transept or cross aisle of a cruciform church. Obs.
1658. Dugdale, St. Pauls, 160. And afterwards bestowed four thousands pounds in repairing of the South Cross.
1702. Lond. Gaz., No. 3804/2. The House of Commons were seated … in the North Cross of the Abbey.
16. A surveyor’s instrument; a CROSS-STAFF.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., II. xiii. 81. Taking off one of the Crosses, and setting the Staff again.
1807. Hutton, Course Math., II. 56. The cross consists of two pair of sights set at right angles to each other, on a staff having a sharp point at the bottom, to fix in the ground.
17. Horse-breaking. A ‘dumb jockey’ shaped like the letter X, buckled across the back of a young horse, and having the reins of the snaffle bridle fastened to it, to make him carry his head properly.
1833. Regul. & Instr. Cavalry, I. 74. In order to bring the horse to … carry his head properly … the cross may be used.
III. In Heraldry, Insignia of Knighthood, Numismatics, etc.
18. Her., etc. A conventional representation of the Christian symbol, or some modification of it, or of two crossing bars, used as an ordinary or charge, as an ornamental figure in art, etc.
Numerous modifications of the form are recognized, some of them being used as religious symbols; the chief forms are Greek cross, an upright cross with limbs of equal length; Latin cross, in which the lower limb is longer than the others; St. Andrew’s cross, or cross saltier, a cross shaped like the letter Ｘ; cross of St. Anthony or Tau cross, in which the transverse bar lies on the top of the upright, like the letter Ｔ. Developments of these are the cross patée or formée, in which the limbs are very narrow where they are conjoined, and gradually expand, the whole forming nearly a square; Maltese cross, cross of Malta or cross of eight points, a modification of the preceding, in which the extremity of each limb is indented. Subordinate forms are cross crossed, a cross with each arm crossed, reaching the edges of the shield; cross of chains, a cross composed of four chains fixed to a central annulet; cross of four leaves: see QUATREFOIL; cross of Jerusalem, a cross having each arm capped by a cross-bar; cross of Lorraine, a cross with two horizontal arms, combining the Greek and Latin crosses; cross of St. Andrew: see above; spec. the saltier-cross of Scotland, white on a blue ground; cross of St. George, the Greek cross, red on a white ground, as used on the English flag; cross of St. James, a Latin cross figured as a sword; cross of St. Julian, a saltier cross having the arms crossed; cross of St. Patrick, the saltier cross of Ireland, red on a white ground; cross of Toulouse, a Maltese cross with a point projecting from each indentation; Buddhist cross, the gammadion or fylfot, [symbol]; capital cross, a Greek cross having each extremity terminated in an ornament like a Tuscan capital; capuchin cross, a cross having each arm terminated by a ball or disc; ANSALL c., CABLED c., cross BEZANTY, FLORY, etc.: see these words.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, Her., B iij b. Cros fixyly, Cros paty Cros croslettis and Cros flory. Ibid., C j a. The cros is the moost worthi signe emong al signys in armys.
1610. Guillim, Heraldry, IV. i. (1660), 270. Called a Crosse-Avellane, from the resemblance it hath of a Philbert Nut.
1615. Crooke, Body of Man, 350. [They] doe mutually intersect themselues in the manner of a Saint Andrewes crosse, or this leteer X.
1654. Ord., in Scobell, Acts & Ord., II. ix. (1658), 294. The Arms of Scotland, viz. a Cross, commonly called Saint Andrews Cross.
1702. Lond. Gaz., No. 3840/2. A Flag with St. George’s Cross was displaied on the Tower.
1797. Holcroft, Stolberg’s Trav. (ed. 2), II. xlvi. 114. The long cross … has been called the Latin cross.
1844. F. A. Paley, Church Restorers, 15. A cross pattee between four lions combatant.
1882. Cussans, Her., iv. 59. No Ordinary is subject to so many modifications of form as the Cross. Ibid., 60. Gwillim mentions thirty-nine different Crosses … and Robson no less than two-hundred and twenty-two.
b. Per or in cross (Her.): in the form or figure of a cross.
1562. Leigh, Armorie (1579), 78. He beareth party per Crosse wauey Sable, and Argent.
1572. Bossewell, Armorie, II. 37 b. Verte, fiue fermaulx in Crosse.
1610. Guillim, Heraldry, V. i. (1611), 238. He beareth parted per Crosse Gules and Argent.
19. A figure of the cross used as the ensign of a religious order of knights, as the Knights of Malta; hence widely adopted as a decoration in many orders of knighthood; also, a wearer of such a cross.
Grand († Great) Cross: a decoration of the highest class of such an order, or the person wearing it. Victoria Cross: a British decoration for members of the Army and Navy, instituted Feb. 5th, 1856, as a reward for personal valour.
1651. Evelyn, Diary, 7 Sept. Crosses of the Order of the Holy Ghost. Ibid. The Chevalier Paul … his Malta Cross was esteem’d at 10,000 crounes.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., II. 444. Out of the 16 great crosses, the great master [of Knights of St. John] is elected.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., IV. 261. This prince had set his heart on some childish distinction, a title or a cross.
1887. Daily News, 16 July, 5/3. He is a Grand Cross of St. Vladimir.
1889. Whitaker’s Alm., 97. The Most Honourable Order of the Bath … Military Knights Grand Cross. Ibid., 98. Civil Knights Grand Cross … Honorary Knights Grand Cross.
† 20. Numism. The figure of a cross stamped upon one side of a coin; hence, a coin bearing this representation; a coin generally. Obs.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 239. Edward did smyte rounde peny, halfpeny, ferthyng … Þe kynges side salle be þe hede & his name writen. Þe croyce side what cite it was in coyned & smyten.
a. 1420. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 685. The feende, men seyne, may hoppe in a pouche, Whan that no crosse therein may appeare.
1530. Palsgr., 211/1. Crosse of coyne, la croix d’une piece d’argent.
1594. Nashe, Unfort. Trav., Wks. 1883–4, V. 34. His purse was … I thinke verily a puritane, for it kept it selfe from anie pollution of crosses.
1638. Heywood, Wise Woman, I. i. Wks. 1874, V. 281. Ile play the Franck gamester … I will not leave my selfe one Crosse to blesse me.
1667. Dryden, Wild Gallant, I. ii. I have not a cross at present.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., xxi. She has been here a fortnight, and we have not yet seen the cross of her money. Ibid. To come and take up an honest house, without cross or coin to bless yourself with.
1797. Sporting Mag., IX. 312. Neither a bun to put in their belly, nor a cross to put in their pockets.
21. Cross and (or) pile [F. croix et (ou) pile]. a. The obverse and (or) reverse side of a coin; head or tail; hence sometimes standing for: a coin, money. arch.
1393. [see CROUCH sb.1].
1584. R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., XIII. xxx. 277. How to know whether one cast crosse or pile by the ringing.
1618. Fletcher, Chances, V. ii. Compel’d with crosse and pile to run of errands.
1698. Sidney, Disc. Govt., iii. § 30 (1704), 362. He had neither cross nor pile.
1718. J. Chamberlayne, Relig. Philos., I. xvi. § 16. If an equal Number of Pieces of Money were thrown up into the Air, the Chance of their falling Cross or Pile … would be equal.
a. 1856. Longf., Friar Lubin, ii. To mingle … The goods of others with his own, And leave you without cross or pile.
† b. fig. The two sides of anything; one thing and its opposite. Obs.
c. 1450. Pol. Poems (1859), II. 240. Crosse and pyle standen in balaunce; Trowthe and resoun be no thynge stronge.
a. 1613. Overbury, Newes, Countrey Newes, Wks. (1856), 175. That good and ill is the crosse and pile in the ayme of life.
1663. Cowley, Cut. Colman St., V. I knew well enough ’twas you; what did you think I knew not Cross from Pile?
† c. ‘Head or tail,’ i.e., ‘tossing up’ to decide a stake, or anything doubtful, by the side of a coin which falls uppermost; ‘pitch and toss’; fig. a matter of mere chance, a ‘toss-up.’ (Usually with cast, throw, toss.) Obs.
[a. 1327. Wardrobe Rolls Edw. II. (Antiq. Repository II. 58). Item paie illoq a Henri Barber le Roi pour Denrs qu il a presta au Roi pur Jewer a cros a Pil de Donny v s.]
1597. 1st Pt. Return fr. Parnass., II. i. 768. Schoolmaister, cross or pile nowe for 4 counters?
c. 1645. Vox Turturis, 23. They had a Custome, when buyer and seller could not agree, to … cast crosse and pile.
1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, III. ii. I’ll throw up cross or pile who shall ask her.
1685. Answ. to Dk. Buckhm. on Liberty of Consc., 36. Thirdly, whether it be not Cross and Pile, whether a man who may be of any and of all Religions, will be of any, or of none at all?
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 39, ¶ 48. There will be no fear of foul Play, if they throw up Cross or Pile who should be shot.
1798. T. Jefferson, Writ., IV. 227. The question of war and peace depends now on a toss of cross and pile.
† d. fig. Pitch and toss. Obs.
1571. Hanmer, Chron. Irel. (1633), 134. Safer to sit, then upon an Irish Pillion that playeth cross and pile with the rider.
† e. advb. phr. By mere chance. Obs.
1648. Herrick, Hesper., Crosse and Pile. Faire and foule days trip crosse and pile; the faire Far lesse in number then our foule dayes are.
a. 1712. W. King, Poems, Stumbling Block, 50. The sceptics hypothetic cause … That cross or pile refin’d the chaos.
† 22. A crossing or crossed position: hence the advb. phrase, on cross, o cross, a cross = crossed, crossing, crosswise: see ACROSS, CROSS adv. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21693 (Cott.). He heild his hend on croice [Edin. MSS. o croice].
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., I. xxviii. From those ij. prickes erect two perpendiculars, which muste needes meet in crosse.
1555. Eden, Decades, 351. They [stars of the S. Cross] are not ryght a croise in the mooneth of Nouember.
1642. Disput. betw. Devill & Pope (Brand). A taylor must not sit with legs on crosse.
1659. B. Harris, Parival’s Iron Age, 54. The King … stood not with his arms a crosse.
b. On the cross: diagonally, obliquely across the texture, on the bias. (Cf. BIAS sb. 1)
1887. [Baring-Gould], Golden Feather, iv. 9. The piece of carnation velvet cut on the cross for trimming Jessamy’s bonnet.
† 23. Cross-measurement. Obs. rare.
1630. R. Johnson’s Kingd. & Commw., 132. The Crosse of London is every way longer, than any you make in Paris, or in any other Citie of Europe. By this word Crosse, I meane, from Saint Georges in Southwarke, to Shoreditch, South and North; and from Westminster to Whitechapell, West and East, meeting at Leaden-hall.
24. The point where two lines or paths cross each other; a crossing, cross-way.
1546. Bp. Gardiner, Decl. Art. Joye, xv. I … do the offyce of an hande, at a crosse, to saye this is the ryght waye.
1891. G. Meredith, One of our Conq., II. xii. 287. To drive two vessels at the cross of a track into collision.
25. Electr. The accidental contact of two lines or circuits so that a portion of the electric current is diverted or crosses from one to the other.
1870. F. L. Pope, Electr. Telegraph, v. (1872), 63. The effects of weather crosses usually manifest themselves upon the occurrence of a shower.
26. The writing or marking by which a cheque is crossed.
1876. Ann. Reg., 151. The cross on the cheque did not restrain its negotiability.
27. fig. A crossing or thwarting: cf. also 10 b.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, II. ii. 4. Any barre, any crosse, any impediment, will be medicinable to me … How canst thou crosse this marriage?
1621–51. Burton, Anat. Mel., I. iii. I. ii. 187. If crossed, that cross [etc.].
1873. Dixon, Two Queens, IV. XIX. vii. 40. Anne was suffering from a cross in love.
28. An intermixture of breeds or races in the production of an animal; an instance of cross-fertilization in plants.
1766. Pennant, Zool. (1768), I. 18. Improved by a cross with the foreign kind.
1819. Byron, Juan, I. lviii. This heathenish cross restored the breed again.
1859. All Year Round, No. 29. 58. The Bakewell … sheep … is … a creature from a series of judicious crosses of divers long-woolled breeds.
b. An animal or plant, or a breed or race, due to crossing.
1760. Phil. Trans., LI. 834. The bird … is an accidental cross, as we sportsmen term it, between a pheasant and turkey.
1834. Medwin, Angler in Wales, I. 253. This little feather-legged bantam … is certainly a cross from the grouse.
1868. Perthshire Jrnl., 18 June. The large stock of black cattle and crosses.
1871. Napheys, Prev. & Cure Dis., I. i. 47. The mulatto, a cross between it [the black race] and the white race, is, apparently, even less fitted to combat the attacks of time.
c. fig. An instance of the mixture of the characteristics of two different individuals; something intermediate in character between two things.
c. 1796. Miss Cranstoun, in Lockhart, Scott, vii. Walter Scott is going to turn out a poet—something of a cross I think between Burns and Gray.
1852. R. S. Surtees, Sponge’s Sp. Tour, xxii. 112. Mr. Jawleyford was a cross between a military dandy and a squire.
1891. Freeman, Sk. French Trav., 125. The west front, a cross between Wells and Holyrood.
29. slang. That which is not fair and ‘square’: dishonest or fraudulent practices.
A cross: a contest or match lost by collusory arrangement between the principals; a swindle. On the cross: in a dishonest, fraudulent manner; to be or go on the cross: to be a thief, live by stealing. To shake the cross: to give up thieving.
1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict., Cross, illegal or dishonest practises in general are called the cross, in opposition to the square.… Any article which has been irregularly obtained, is said to have been got upon the cross.
1829. Chron., in Ann. Reg., 21/1. It was decided that it should be a decided ‘cross.’—That is, it was decided beforehand that the match was to be lost.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, lv. A conversation … about the fight between the Butcher and the Pet, and the probabilities that it was a cross.
1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, lx. The young woman … may be on the cross.
1878. Tinsley’s Mag., XXIII. 300. Never to act on the square, but invariably on the cross.
1889. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms, xii. (1890), 85. It’s the hardest earned money of all, that’s got on the cross.
V. Elliptical uses.
† 30. Short for CROSS-SAIL, a square-sail. Obs.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, IV. viii. 21. Marynaris glaid layis thair schippis onder cros. Ibid., V. xiv. 3. Heis heich the cros.
31. Irish Hist. = CROSS-LAND.
1612. Davies, Why Ireland etc. (1787), 107. The King’s writ did not run in those counties … but only in the church-lands lying within the same, which were called the Cross, wherein the King made a sheriff: and so, in each of these counties palatine there were two sheriffs, one of the Liberty, and another of the Cross.
1880. J. R. O’Flanagan, Munster Circuit, 2. They could hear and determine all complaints against magistrates and officers, civil and military, throughout the province of Munster, and the crosses and liberties of Tipperary and Kerry.
VI. Comb. See CROSS- I. below.
