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crotchet

[kroch-it]
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noun
  1. an odd fancy or whimsical notion.
  2. a small hook.
  3. a hooklike device or part.
  4. Entomology. a small, hooklike process.
  5. Music. Chiefly British. a quarter note.
  6. a curved surgical instrument with a sharp hook.
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Origin of crotchet

1350–1400; Middle English crochet hook, staff with hook at end < Middle French (see crochet); doublet of crocket

Synonyms

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1. caprice, whimsy, eccentricity, quirk, oddity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for crotchet

Historical Examples

  • When the ladies had withdrawn, young Crotchet addressed the company.

    Crotchet Castle

    Thomas Love Peacock

  • From this eventful night, young Crotchet was seen no more on English mould.

    Crotchet Castle

    Thomas Love Peacock

  • Mr. Crotchet told the Reverend Doctor Folliott the news of the morning.

    Crotchet Castle

    Thomas Love Peacock

  • Humor my crotchet just now, and perhaps I may humor yours a month or two hence.

  • Here you have just that kind of crotchet that I am going to deal with.

    Mike Marble

    Uncle Frank

British Dictionary definitions for crotchet

crotchet

noun
  1. music a note having the time value of a quarter of a semibreveUsual US and Canadian name: quarter note
  2. a small hook or hooklike device
  3. a perverse notion
  4. zoology a small notched or hooked process, as in an insect
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Word Origin

C14: from Old French crochet, literally: little hook, from croche hook; see crocket
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crotchet

n.

late 14c., "crocket," later "small hook" (early 15c.), from Old French crochet (pronounced "crotchet") "hook" (see crochet). As a surgical instrument, from 1750. Figurative use in musical notation is from mid-15c., from the shape of the notes. Meaning "whimsical fancy" is from 1570s; perhaps from the same mechanical image in crank; but other authorities link this sense to the musical notation one.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper