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croft

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croft¹

  • /kɹɒft/ UK
  • /kɹɔft/ Canada, US
  • /kɹɑft/ Canada, US, cot caught merger
  • /kɹɒft/ Canada, US, cot caught merger

Rhymes with -ɒft

Where it comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English croft, crofft, croffte, croofte, crofte (“croft”), from Old English croft (“enclosed field”); further etymology uncertain, but possibly from Proto-Germanic *kruftaz (“a hill; a curve”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewb- (“to bend; arch, crook, curve”); see also crop. The English word is cognate with Middle Dutch kroft, krocht, crocht (“high and dry land; a field on the downs”), Middle Low German kroch (“enclosed piece of farmland or pasture”), Scots croft, craft (“croft”).

The verb is derived from the noun.

noun crofts

  1. An enclosed piece of land, usually small and arable and used for small-scale food production, and often with a dwelling next to it; in particular, such a piece of land rented to a farmer (a crofter), especially in Scotland, together with a right to use separate pastureland shared by other crofters. ...to haue set and for malis and service...the four markland of Kincrakin...with the croft of Polgreyich and the croft that Ewin M'Ewin was wount to haue...

    Similar: quillet

verb crofts · crofting · crofted

  1. intransitive To do agricultural work on one or more crofts.
  2. archaic, transitive To place (cloth, etc.) on the ground in the open air in order to sun and bleach it.

croft²

  • /kɹɒft/ UK
  • /kɹɔft/ Canada, US
  • /kɹɑft/ Canada, US, cot caught merger
  • /kɹɒft/ Canada, US, cot caught merger

Rhymes with -ɒft

Where it comes from

From Middle English croft, crofte, croufte, crufte (“crypt; vault”), from Old English cruft, from Latin crupta, crypta (“crypt; vault”), from Ancient Greek κρυπτή (kruptḗ), feminine form of κρῠπτός (krŭptós, “concealed, hidden; secret”), from κρύπτω (krúptō, “to conceal, hide; to obscure”) (further etymology unknown) + -ος (-os). The English word is cognate with Middle Dutch croft, crocht, crochte, crogt, cruft, crufte (modern Dutch krocht (“underground cavity, cave; underground vault, crypt”)), Middle Low German krucht, kruft (“crypt”), Old High German cruft (Middle High German kruft (“cave; crypt”)). Doublet of grotto and crypt.

noun crofts

  1. archaic An underground chamber; a crypt, an undercroft.
  2. archaic A cave or cavern.

croft³

  • /kɹɒft/ UK
  • /kɹɔft/ Canada, US
  • /kɹɑft/ Canada, US, cot caught merger
  • /kɹɒft/ Canada, US, cot caught merger

Rhymes with -ɒft

Where it comes from

A variant of carafe.

noun crofts

  1. archaic A carafe.

Croft⁴

Where it comes from

* As an English surname, from the noun croft (“small piece of land”).

* Also as an English surname, variant of Craft.

* As a Danish, Swedish, German and Jewish surname, Americanized from Kraft.

* The place in Leicestershire is from Old English cræft (“device”).

Also compare Kroft.

proper noun

  1. A surname from Middle English, from the common noun croft, and from places named Croft.
  2. A village and civil parish in Warrington borough, Cheshire (OS grid ref SJ6393).
  3. A small village in Croft and Yarpole parish, Herefordshire (OS grid ref SO4565).
  4. A village and civil parish in Blaby district, Leicestershire (OS grid ref SP5195).
  5. A village and civil parish in East Lindsey district, Lincolnshire (OS grid ref TF5061).
  6. An unincorporated community in Pratt County, Kansas, United States.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: cooke, murray, goodman's croft, cruive, ploughgate, croplands, conacre, parrock, cropfield, cropland, foreacre, outfield, roost, crummock, cascrom, plough

Translations

Every language

noun enclosed piece of land

Españolcoto
Italianopodere, campicello, campetto

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Cite this
MLA

"croft." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/croft. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

croft. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/croft

Chicago

"croft." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/croft.

BibTeX
@misc{croft_2026,
  title = {croft},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/croft},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}