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Meaning & use

croning

noun·Advancedspecialist

Last updated

UK/ˈkrəʊ.nɪŋ/
US/ˈkroʊ.nɪŋ/

Meanings

  1. nouncountablespecialist

    A modern ceremony that honors a woman as she enters later life, treating her as a wise elder, often held around menopause or a milestone birthday.

    Grammar: Countable: a croning, her croning, two cronings.

    Patterns

    • a croning for someone
    • hold a croning

    Her friends planned a croning to celebrate her sixtieth birthday.

    The croning included stories, songs and a circle of women.

    She described her croning as a welcome into the next stage of life.

  2. noununcountablerare

    The act of becoming a crone, in the sense of a woman moving into the stage of elder wisdom in some traditions.

    Grammar: Rare; usually appears in discussions of ritual and folklore.

    Patterns

    • the croning of someone

    Writers on folklore discuss the croning of the goddess as part of her life cycle.

    In the book, the croning of the heroine marks her new authority.

    The poem treats croning as a gain, not a loss.

Word forms

pluralcronings

Common combinations

croning ceremony
The croning ceremony took place at sunrise.
hold a croning
They decided to hold a croning for their aunt.
celebrate a croning
The group gathered to celebrate a croning.
croning ritual
The croning ritual ended with a shared meal.

Synonyms and how they differ

rite of passage
A rite of passage is any ceremony marking a stage of life, while croning is one specific ritual for later life.
coming-of-age ceremony
A coming-of-age ceremony marks the move into adulthood, whereas croning marks the move into elderhood.
initiation
Initiation is a general word for entering a group or stage, while croning is specifically about entering elderhood.

Word family

crone noun
an old woman, once insulting but now sometimes used positively for a wise elder
crone verb
to honor a woman in a croning ceremony (rare)
cronehood noun
the stage of being an elder woman
cronish adjective
like a crone

Commonly confused: croning or crowning?

croning vs crowning

Crowning means placing a crown on someone or the final achievement; croning is a ritual about elderhood.

Practice

For her sixtieth birthday, Lena's friends held a ___ to honor her as a wise elder.

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