English

Proper noun

Crater

1. (astronomy): A dim spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a cup. It lies between the constellations Virgo and Hydra.

Derived terms

• Crateris

Translations

Anagrams

• carter, Carter
• tracer

Spanish

Proper noun

Crater ?

1. Crater (a constellation)

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹeɪ.tə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹeɪ.tɚ/
• Rhymes: -eɪtə(r)

Noun

crater ‎(plural craters)

1. (astronomy) A hemispherical pit created by the impact of a meteorite or other object.
2. (geology) The basin-like opening or mouth of a volcano, through which the chief eruption comes; similarly, the mouth of a geyser, about which a cone of silica is often built up.
3. (informal) The pit left by the explosion of a mine or bomb.
4. (informal) Any large, roughly circular depression or hole.
5. Krater, an ancient Greek vessel for mixing water and wine.
   • 1941, Louis MacNeice, The March of the 10,000:

     The people of those parts lived in underground houses - more of dug-outs - along with their goats and sheep and they had great craters full of wine, barley-wine, that they drank through reeds.

Synonyms

• (astronomy): astrobleme
• (geology): caldera

Hyponyms

Related terms

• crater lake
• machtesh

Translations

References

• crater on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

crater ‎(third-person singular simple present craters, present participle cratering, simple past and past participle cratered)

1. To form craters in a surface (of a planet or moon)
2. To collapse catastrophically; implode; hollow out; to become devastated or completely destroyed.

   The economy is about to crater. -- Attributed by David Letterman to Sen. John McCain. NYTimes blog

3. (snowboarding) To crash or fall.

   He cratered into that snow bank about five seconds after his first lesson.

Etymology 2

Possibly a diminutive of cratur (dialect form of creature).

Pronunciation

• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹeː.təɹ/

Noun

crater ‎(plural craters)

1. (Ireland, informal, Britain, dialect) A term of endearment, a dote, a wretched thing.

   1843 - I then had the two best tarriers beneath the canopy; this poor crater is their daughter," and he patted the dog's head affectionately.
   William Hamilton Maxwell, Wild Sports of the West: With Legendary Tales, and Local Sketches , Publisher R. Bentley, page 77,

   1859 - She is a charming crater; I would venture to say that, if I was not her father.
   The British Drama: A Collection of the Most Esteemed Tragedies, Comedies ...

   1872 Thomas Hardy "Under the Greenwood Tree"

   "Then why not stop for fellow-craters -- going to thy own father's house too, as we be, and knowen us so well?"

Usage notes

This term is still commonly used in speech but rarely appears in modern writing.

Anagrams

• carter, Carter
• tracer

Latin

Alternative forms

• cratera

Etymology

From the romanized form of the Ancient Greek (Doric) κρατήρ ‎(kratḗr, “mixingbowl, wassail-bowl”) (Ionic) κρητήρ ‎(krētḗr), from "to mix, mingle", from κεράννυμι ‎(keránnumi, “to mix, to mingle, to blend”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkraː.teːr/

Noun

crātēr m ‎(genitive crātēris); third declension

1. A basin or bowl for water or for mixing.
2. The opening of a volcano.

Inflection

Third declension.

Other forms are

• Sg.:
  • Gen.: -os
  • Acc.: -a
• Pl.:
  • Nom., Voc.: -es
  • Acc.: -es or -as

References

• crater in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• crater in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• crater in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• crater in William Smith., editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• crater in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin