Skip to content
ARCHIEENGLISH
LearnPlayWordsRanking
  • Learn
  • Play
  • Words
  • Ranking
  • Mine
← Vocabulary

crucifix

UK/ˈkɹuː.sɪˌfɪks/US/ˈkɹuː.sɪˌfɪks/
nounB2Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,722 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: crucifixes

A crucifix is a cross bearing a figure of Christ. A wooden crucifix, wear a crucifix, the crucifix above the altar.

The figure is what makes it a crucifix rather than a plain cross, and the distinction runs along old lines between churches. A small one worn on a chain is the commonest form.

Uoaei1 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of crucifix

  1. 1nouncrucifixA cross bearing a figure of Christ.B2

    “A small crucifix hung over the door of every room.”

crucifix is an object.

Where it comes from

Latin crucifixus means fixed to a cross, from crux, a cross, plus figere, to fasten.

  1. Latin

    crucifixus

  2. Old French

    crocefis

  3. Middle English

    crucifix

  4. English, today

    crucifix

From Middle English crucifix, from Old French crocefis (French crucifix), from Latin crucifixus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

crucifix in the wild

  • Most crucifixes portray Jesus on a Latin cross, rather than a Tau cross or a Coptic cross.

    Crucifix

  • The crucifix is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the most common forms of the Crucifixion in the arts.

    Crucifix

  • The prayer before a crucifix is a Roman Catholic prayer to Jesus.

    Prayer before a crucifix

  • The faithful receive a partial indulgence if they recite the prayer after Communion before a crucifix.

    Prayer before a crucifix

  • An altar cross or altar crucifix is a cross or crucifix placed upon an altar, and is often the principal ornament of the altar.

    Altar cross

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.