Cross

Cross, kros, n. a gibbet on which malefactors were hung, consisting of two pieces of timber, one placed crosswise on the other, either thus [Image: Latin cross] or [Image: St Andrew's cross] : the instrument on which Christ suffered, and thus the symbol of the Christian religion: the sufferings of Christ: the atonement effected by these: a representation of the cross, a staff surmounted by a cross, a monument, model, or ornament in the form of a cross, esp. that in this form in the centre of a town at which proclamations are made, &c.: (Scot.) a signal or call to arms sent throughout a district, being a cross of two sticks charred and dipped in blood (Fiery cross): the transverse part of an anchor, or the like: a surveyor's cross-staff: anything that crosses or thwarts: a crossing or crossway: adversity or affliction in general.—v.t. to mark with a cross, or to make the sign of the cross.—ns. Cross′-aisle, a transept aisle of a cruciform church; Cross′-bear′er, one who carries a cross in a procession; Cross′-bun, a bun marked with the form of a cross, eaten on Good-Friday; Cross′ing, the making the sign of the cross; Cross′-stitch, a double stitch in the form of a cross; Cross′let, a little cross.—Crost, obsolete pa.p. of Cross.—Cross-and-pile, the obverse and reverse side of a coin, head and tail; Cross of Calvary, the Latin cross or cross of crucifixion elevated on three steps; Cross of Jerusalem, one having each arm capped by a cross-bar; Cross of Lorraine, a cross with two horizontal arms, combining the Greek and Latin crosses; Cross of St James, a Latin cross figured as a sword; Cross of St Patrick, the saltier cross of Ireland (red on a white ground).—Cross one's mind, to flash across the mind; Cross the path of any one, to thwart him.—Ansate cross (crux ansata), a common symbol of immortality in ancient Egypt; Archiepiscopal cross, the pastoral staff surmounted by a cross; Buddhist cross, the gammadion or fylfot, with returned arms, a symbol found in prehistoric remains in Italy and elsewhere; Capital cross, a Greek cross having each extremity terminated in an ornament like a Tuscan capital; Capuchin-cross, a cross having each arm terminated by a ball; Celtic cross, a type of cross found in Ireland and in the north and west of Scotland, varying from a cross incised on a flat slate to an elaborate cruciform monument—some crosses of this type show Scandinavian workmanship, and hence are often called Runic crosses; Greek cross, an upright cross with limbs of equal length—the well-known Cross of St George (red on a white ground); Latin cross (crux immissa), an upright cross having the lower limb longer than the others; Maltese cross, the badge of the knights of Malta, converging to a point in the centre, with two points to each limb; Norman cross, an elaborate memorial cross like a Gothic turret set on the ground, or on the base of a few steps, with niches for figures and pinnacles; Patriarchal cross, a cross with two horizontal bars; Rouen cross, a cross in fretwork, as a brooch or pendant; St Andrew's cross (crux decussata), or Cross saltier, a cross of two shafts of equal length crossed diagonally at the middle—the saltier cross of Scotland (white on a blue ground); St Anthony's cross (crux commissa), shaped like a [Image: St Anthony's cross] ; Southern cross, a constellation in the Antarctic region where the stars are in the form of a cross. [O. Fr. crois (Fr. croix)—L. cruc-em, orig. an upright post to which latterly a cross-piece was added.]