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Webster 1913 Edition

Crotchet

Crotch′et

(kr?ch′?t; 224)
,
Noun.
[F.
crochet
, prop., a little hook, a dim. from the same source as
croc
hook. See
Crook
, and cf.
Crochet
,
Crocket
,
Crosier
.]
1.
A forked support; a crotch.
The
crotchets
of their cot in columns rise.
Dryden.
2.
(Mus.)
A time note, with a stem, having one fourth the value of a semibreve, one half that of a minim, and twice that of a quaver; a quarter note.
3.
(Fort.)
An indentation in the glacis of the covered way, at a point where a traverse is placed.
4.
(Mil.)
The arrangement of a body of troops, either forward or rearward, so as to form a line nearly perpendicular to the general line of battle.
5.
(Print.)
A bracket. See
Bracket
.
6.
(Med.)
An instrument of a hooked form, used in certain cases in the extraction of a fetus.
Dunglison.
7.
A perverse fancy; a whim which takes possession of the mind; a conceit.
He ruined himself and all that trusted in him by
crotchets
that he could never explain to any rational man.
De Quincey.

Crotch′et

,
Verb.
I.
To play music in measured time.
[Obs.]
Donne.

Webster 1828 Edition

Crotchet

CROTCHET

,
Noun.
[See Crook.]
1.
In printing, a hook including words, a sentence or a passage distinguished form the rest, thus [ ].
2.
In music, a note or character, equal in time to half a minim, and double of a quaver.
3.
A piece of wood resembling a fork, used as a support in building.
4.
A peculiar turn of the mind; a whim, or fancy; a perverse conceit.
All the devices and crotchets of new inventions.

Definition 2024

crotchet

crotchet

English

Two crotchets and a crotchet rest

Noun

crotchet ‎(plural crotchets)

  1. (music) A musical note one beat long in 4/4 time.
  2. A sharp curve or crook; a shape resembling a hook (obsolete except in crochet hook).
  3. (archaic) a whim or a fancy
    • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 3, chapter XIII, Democracy
      Thou who walkest in a vain shew, looking out with ornamental dilettante sniff and serene supremacy at all Life and all Death; and amblest jauntily; perking up thy poor talk into crotchets, thy poor conduct into fatuous somnambulisms […]
    • De Quincey
      He ruined himself and all that trusted in him by crotchets that he could never explain to any rational man.
  4. A forked support; a crotch.
    • Dryden
      The crotchets of their cot in columns rise.
  5. (military, historical) An indentation in the glacis of the covered way, at a point where a traverse is placed.
  6. (military) The arrangement of a body of troops, either forward or rearward, so as to form a line nearly perpendicular to the general line of battle.
  7. (printing) A square bracket.

Synonyms

Translations

Derived terms

Verb

crotchet ‎(third-person singular simple present crotchets, present participle crotcheting, simple past and past participle crotcheted)

  1. to make needlework by looping thread with a hooked needle; to crochet
  2. (obsolete) to play music in measured time
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Donne to this entry?)

Norman

Etymology

From Old French crochet ‎(“small hook”), from croc (with diminutive suffix -et), from Old Norse krókr ‎(“hook”).

Noun

crotchet m ‎(plural crotchets)

  1. (Jersey, punctuation) bracket

Derived terms

Etymology

From Old French crochet (‘small hook’), from croc (with diminutive suffix -et), from Old Norse krókr (‘hook’). The musical note was named so because of a small hook on its stem in black notation (in modern notation this hook is on the quaver/eighth note).

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