craft

pronunciation

How to pronounce craft in British English: UK [krɑːft] word uk audio image

How to pronounce craft in American English: US [kræft] word us audio image

Noun:

the skilled practice of a practical occupation
a vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space
people who perform a particular kind of skilled work
skill in an occupation or trade
shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception
Verb:

make by hand and with much skill

Word Origin

craft: craft: [OE] The original notion contained in the word craft is that of ‘strength’ (that is the meaning of its relatives in other Germanic languages, such as German and Swedish kraft). Old English croeft had that sense too (it had largely died out by the 16th century), but it had also developed some other meanings, which are not shared by its Germanic cognates: ‘skill’, for example (in a bad as well as a good sense, whence crafty) and ‘trade’ or ‘profession’.Much later in origin, however (17th-century in fact), is the sense ‘ship’. It is not clear how this developed, but it may have been a shortening of some such expression as ‘vessel of the sailor’s craft’ (that is, ‘trade’). The word’s Germanic stem was *krab- or *kraf-, which some have seen also as the source of crave [OE].=> crave

craft (n.): Old English cræft (West Saxon, Northumbrian), -creft (Kentish), originally "power, physical strength, might," from Proto-Germanic *krab-/*kraf- (cognates: Old Frisian kreft, Old High German chraft, German Kraft "strength, skill;" Old Norse kraptr "strength, virtue"). Sense expanded in Old English to include "skill, dexterity; art, science, talent" (via a notion of "mental power"), which led by late Old English to the meaning "trade, handicraft, calling," also "something built or made." The word still was used for "might, power" in Middle English. Use for "small boat" is first recorded 1670s, probably from a phrase similar to vessels of small craft and referring either to the trade they did or the seamanship they required, or perhaps it preserves the word in its original sense of "power."

craft (v.): Old English cræftan "to exercise a craft, build," from the same source as craft (n.). Meaning "to make skilfully" is from early 15c., obsolete from 16c., but revived c. 1950s, largely in U.S. advertising and commercial senses. Related: Crafted; crafting.

3. It symbolizes a crucial lesson about craft : utility is not contingent on perfection of form .

4. The craft has been developed by the oxfordshire-based reaction engines with support from the new space agency .

5. This often leads to more subtle changes in the way that advertisers think about their craft , says mr armstrong .