crotchet

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crotchet

/ˈkɹɑt͡ʃ.ɪt/ US
/ˈkɹɒtʃ.ɪt/ UK

Rhymes with -ɒtʃɪt

Where it comes from

From Middle English crochet, from Old French crochet (“small hook”), from croc + -et (diminutive suffix), 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). Doublet of crochet, crocket, and croquet.

noun crotchets

A musical note one beat long in 4/4 time. The crotchets and quavers are dancing up and down the stave like little black boys on a fence.
Similar: quarter note
obsolete A sharp curve or crook; a shape resembling a hook
historical A hook-shaped instrument, especially as used in obstetric surgery. Either Doctor Denman or an old Woman would have waited—but since the horrid death-doing Crotchet has been found out, & its use permitted—Oh! many & many a Life has been flung away.
archaic A whim or a fancy. 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; […] dost thou call that "liberty!"
A forked support; a crotch. Their little Shed, ſcarce large enough for Two, / Seems, from the Ground increas'd, in Height and Bulk to grow. / A ſtately Temple ſhoots within the Skies, / The Crotchets of their Cot in Columns riſe: [...]
historical An indentation in the glacis of the covered way, at a point where a traverse is placed.
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.
A square bracket.

verb crotchets · crotcheting · crotcheted

obsolete to play music in measured time The nimblest crotcheting musician
archaic Archaic form of crochet (“knit by looping”).

Translations

Every language

noun musical note

Español	negra
한국어	사분음표 sabuneumpyo
日本語	四分音符 shibun onpu
中文	四分音符 sìfēn yīnfú
Português	semínima
Français	noire
Deutsch	Viertelnote
Italiano	semiminima
Ελληνικά	τέταρτο tétarto
Русский	четвертна́я но́та četvertnája nóta, че́тверть čétvertʹ
Tiếng Việt	nốt đen

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{crotchet_2026,
  title = {crotchet},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/crotchet},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}