craic

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English

Etymology

A variant of crack (conviviality, fun; good company; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humorous storytelling; mischief) (Ireland, Northern Ireland (Ulster)), from Scots crack (free and easy conversation; gossip, talk), possibly from Middle English crak (bursting or splitting sound, crash), from craken (to make a bursting or splitting sound, crack), from Old English cracian (to make a bursting or splitting sound, crack; to resound), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną (to crack or crackle; to shriek), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (to cry hoarsely). Doublet of crack (thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material). The spelling craic is partly borrowed:

Pronunciation

Noun

craic (uncountable)

  1. (Ireland) Often preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company; also, pleasant conversation.
    • 1991, Mary Leland, chapter 10, in Approaching Priests, London: Sinclair-Stevenson, →ISBN, page 172:
      ‘It is a great atmosphere, isn’t it?’ Leon was enthusiastic, not at all cryptic or withdrawn, wholeheartedly enjoying the ‘craic’, as he called it, slapping his hand on the table in time to the bodhrán rhythm from the group singing itself hoarse and unharmonious on the stage.
    • 1995 September 9, “Dara: Ireland’s Most Successful Record Label ”, in Timothy White, editor, Billboard: The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment, volume 107, number 36, New York, N.Y.: BPI Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 84:
      "The craic" is how the Irish celebrate life – with music, with laughter, with joy, with old friends (and new friends just waiting to be made). Be careful. "The craic" is mighty!
    • , London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-01-29:
      Most Irish people, you see, when asked to name their preferred aspect of living in Ireland, will instance "the crack". "The crack", which is sometimes annoyingly conveyed in the Irish-language spelling "craic", is a quintessentially Irish indicator of what in other cultures translates roughly as "fun" – except that the crack is much more than fun.]
    • 2007 November 19, Kevin Cullen, “His peace in poetry”, in The Boston Globe, Boston, Mass.: The Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-03-12:
      Kennelly has been sober for 21 years, but couldn't resist popping into some of the city's myriad Irish pubs. He nursed bottled water and listened to the accents, the stories, the craic.
    • 2015, Ben Ritchie, “A Bit of Craic”, in Phil Murphy, editor, Original Writing from Ireland’s Own: An Anthology of the Best Stories from the Annual Writing Competitions Run by Ireland’s Premier Family Magazine, 2015 edition, Dublin: Original Writing, →ISBN, “Highly Commended” section, page 161:
      "Sure, it will be a bit of craic," said Beth, "when's the last time a fortune teller came anywhere near here?"

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ crack, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024.
  2. ^ Joseph Wright, editor (1898), “CRACK, sb.1, v. and adj.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: , volume I (A–C), London: Henry Frowde, , publisher to the English Dialect Society, ; New York, N.Y.: G P Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 762–763:Talk, conversation, gossip, chat. A tale, good story, joke; gossip, scandal.
  3. ^ crack, n.1”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W Grant and D D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
  4. ^ crā̆k, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  5. ^ crā̆ken, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  6. ^ Joseph Bosworth (1882) “cracian”, in T Northcote Toller, editor, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 168, column 1.
  7. ^ craic, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2024.

Further reading

Anagrams

Irish

Etymology

From English crack.

Pronunciation

Noun

craic f (genitive singular craice, nominative plural craiceanna)

  1. crack
  2. conversation, chat, fun
  3. crazy person

Declension

Declension of craic (second declension)
forms with the definite article
singular plural
nominative an chraic na craiceanna
genitive na craice na gcraiceanna
dative leis an gcraic
don chraic
leis na craiceanna

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • English: craic

Mutation

Mutated forms of craic
radical lenition eclipsis
craic chraic gcraic

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

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From English crack.

Pronunciation

Noun

craic m (genitive singular craic, no plural)

  1. craic, chat, fun

Mutation

Mutation of craic
radical lenition
craic chraic

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