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craft
craft / kraft/ • n. 1. an activity involving skill in making things by hand: the craft of bookbinding. ∎ (crafts) work or objects made by hand: local crafts | [as adj.] (craft) a craft fair. ∎ a skilled activity or profession: the historian's craft. ∎ skill in carrying out one's work. ∎ skill used in deceiving others. ∎ the members of a skilled profession. ∎ (the Craft) the brotherhood of Freemasons. 2. (pl. same) a boat or ship. ∎ an airplane or spaceship. • v. [tr.] exercise skill in making (something). DERIVATIVES: craft·er n. ORIGIN: Old English cræft ‘strength, skill,’ of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kracht, German Kraft, and Swedish kraft ‘strength’ (the change of sense to ‘skill’ occurring only in English). Sense 2, originally in the expression small craft ‘small trading vessels or lighters,’ may be elliptical, referring to vessels requiring a small amount of “craft” or skill to handle, as opposed to large oceangoing ships. |
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Cite this article
"craft." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "craft." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-craft.html "craft." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-craft.html |
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craft
craft
A. †strength, power OE.; B. skill, deceit OE.; C. art, trade OE.; D. structure, work XII; E. vessels, boats XVII. OE. cræft = OS., (O)HG. kraft, ON. kraptr, with no cogns. outside Gmc. As a second el. of comps. in the sense ‘art’, in handicraft, statecraft, witchcraft. Hence craftsman XIV. crafty †strong; †skilful OE.; cunning, wily XIII. OE. cræftiġ = OS. kraftag, -ig, OHG. kreftig (G. kräftig), ON. krǫptugr; see -Y 1. |
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "craft." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "craft." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-craft.html T. F. HOAD. "craft." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-craft.html |
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craft
craft, in the 15th–17th centuries a term which denoted any kind of net, line, or hook used for catching fish. Fishing vessels, such as hoys and busses, were in consequence usually described as small craft. The term has long since been expanded to include all small vessels whether they are fishing boats or not. See also fisheries.
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Cite this article
"craft." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "craft." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-craft.html "craft." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-craft.html |
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Craft
Craftvessels collectively, 1671; a brotherhood of freemasons, 1430; those engaged in a craft or trade, 1362. |
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Cite this article
"Craft." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Craft." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505300469.html "Craft." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505300469.html |
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craft
craft
•Taft
•abaft, aft, craft, daft, draft, draught, engraft, graft, haft, kraft, raft, shaft, understaffed, unstaffed, waft
•backdraft • handcraft • aircraft
•stagecraft • spacecraft • statecraft
•needlecraft • priestcraft • witchcraft
•kingcraft • handicraft • woodcraft
•Wollstonecraft • bushcraft
•watercraft • hovercraft • crankshaft
•camshaft • layshaft • driveshaft
•turboshaft • countershaft
•bereft, cleft, deft, eft, heft, klepht, left, reft, theft, weft
•adrift, drift, gift, grift, lift, rift, shift, shrift, sift, squiffed, swift, thrift, uplift
•airlift, chairlift, stairlift
•facelift • skilift • shoplift • Festschrift
•spendthrift • spindrift • snowdrift
•makeshift • downshift • upshift
•aloft, croft, loft, oft, soft, toft
•hayloft • Ashcroft • Cockcroft
•undercroft • Lowestoft
•tuft, unstuffed
•Delft
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Cite this article
"craft." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "craft." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-craft.html "craft." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-craft.html |
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