crwth

See also: Crwth

English

WOTD – 23 January 2008

A crwth

Alternative forms

• crowd, cruth, crowth, crouth

Etymology

From earlier crowd, from Middle English crowde, reinforced by and cognate to Welsh crwth; ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kruttos (“round thing”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɹuθ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɹuːθ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːθ

Noun

crwth (plural crwths)

1. (historical) An archaic stringed instrument associated particularly with Wales, though once played widely in Europe, and characterized by a vaulted back and enough space for the player to stop each of the six strings on the fingerboard. Played variously by plucking or bowing.
   • 1895, John Frederick Rowbotham, The Troubadours and Courts of Love:

     We find in one period crwths, with the strings twanged with the right hand, and stopped above with the left, being held as we hold a violoncello to-day, but being small, on the lap.

Synonyms

• chrotta
• rote

Derived terms

• crowder
• Crowder (surname)

Translations

archaic stringed instrument

• Armenian: քրոթ (kʻrotʻ)
• Breton: krouzh
• French: crwth (fr) m, crouth (fr) m, rote (fr) f
• German: Crwth (de) f
• Irish: cruit (ga) f
• Italian: crotta f
• Marathi: क्रुथ (kruth)
• Middle English: crowde
• Russian: кро́та (ru) f (króta)
• Spanish: crota f
• Welsh: crwth

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of chordophones

References

• 1910, The Encyclopædia Britannica, page 513

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh crwth, from Proto-Brythonic *kruθ, from Proto-Celtic *kruttos (“round thing”), perhaps related to Latvian krūtis (“breast, bust”), from Proto-Indo-European *krū̆t; but it could instead be loaned from a non-Indo-European substrate. Possibly related to Proto-Celtic *krundis (“round”). Compare Old Irish crott (“harp, lute”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kruːθ/

Noun

crwth m (plural crythau)

1. (music) crwth; fiddle, violin, viol
2. purring (of a cat)
3. hump, hunch on the back, convexity; hunchback; hunchbacked, rounded, bent, convex
4. anything of round or bulging shape, especially a vessel, basket, box

Mutation

Mutated forms of crwth

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
crwth	grwth	nghrwth	chrwth

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “crott”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “crwth”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies