crony
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɹoʊni/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɹəʊni/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊni
Etymology 1
[edit]Coined between 1655 and 1665 from Ancient Greek χρόνιος (khrónios, “perennial, long-lasting”) (English chrono- (“time”),[1] initially as Cambridge University slang,[2][3][4][5] in sense of “chum”, as “friend of long standing”,[6] with illegal connotation later.[7]
Early spellings included chrony, as in 1665 diary by Samuel Pepys,[6] supporting the Greek origin.
Noun
[edit]crony (plural cronies)
- (informal, originally Cambridge University) A close friend.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:friend
- Antonym: noncrony
- 1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Rip Van Winkle”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 91:
- Rip now resumed his old walks and habits; he soon found many of his former cronies, though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of time; and preferred making friends among the rising generation, with whom he soon grew into great favour.
- (informal) A trusted companion or partner in a criminal organization.
Alternative forms
[edit]- chrony (obsolete)
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]close friend
|
References
[edit]- ^ “crony”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- ^ "Crony" at Dictionary.com
- ^ “AskOxford: crony”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[1], 2008 October 3 (last accessed), archived from the original on 13 March 2020
- ^ Richard Reeves, NS Essay – “Friendship is the invisible thread running through society.” April 19, 2004
- ^ “Cronyism: The New Sleaze.” BBC News. December 23, 1998
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 “The I’s Have It”, William Safire, The New York Times. October 30, 2005
- ^ “That Single Word.” Juan L. Mercado, The Ilocos Times, September 24, 2006
Etymology 2
[edit]Noun
[edit]crony (plural cronies)
- (obsolete) An old woman; a crone.
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
- Marry not an old crony.
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/əʊni
- Rhymes:English/əʊni/2 syllables
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English informal terms
- Cambridge University English
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Corruption
- en:People
- en:Crime