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Origin and history of crossing

crossing(n.)

mid-15c., "a making of the sign of a cross;" 1530s, "a marking with a cross," verbal noun from cross (v.). From early 15c. as "place or action of passing across;" 1630s as "place where (a river, a road, etc.) is crossed;" from 1690s as "intersection" (originally of streets). Meaning "action of crossing out by drawing crossed lines through" is from 1650s. Crossing-gate is from 1876.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to crossing

cross(v.)

c. 1200, "make the sign of a cross as an act of devotion," from cross (n.) and in part from French croiser. Sense of "to go across, pass from side to side of, pass over" is from c. 1400; that of "to cancel by drawing a line over or crossed lines over" is from mid-15c.

From late 14c. as "lie across; intersect;" also "place (two things) crosswise of each other; lay one thing across another." From early 15c. as "mark a cross on." Meaning "thwart, obstruct, hinder, oppose" is from 1550s. Meaning "to draw or run a line athwart or across" is from 1703. Also in Middle English in now-archaic sense "crucify" (mid-14c.), hence, figuratively, crossed "carrying a cross of affliction or penance."

Sense of "cause to interbreed" is from 1754. In telegraphy, electricity, etc., in reference to accidental contact of two wires on different circuits or different parts of a circuit that allows part of the current to flow from one to the other, from 1884. Meaning "to cheat" is by 1823.

Cross my heart as a vow is from 1898. To cross over as euphemistic for "to die" is from 1930. To cross (someone's) path "thwart, obstruct, oppose" is from 1818. Of ideas, etc., to cross (someone's) mind "enter into" (of an idea, etc.) is from 1768; the notion is of something entering the mind as if passing athwart it.

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    ford
    Old English ford "shallow place where water can be crossed," from Proto-Germanic *furdu- (source also of Old Frisian forda, Old High German furt, German Furt "ford"), from PIE *prtu- "a going, a passage" (source also of Latin portus "harbor"), from root *per- (2) "to lead, pass o
    intersection
    1550s, "act or fact of crossing," from French intersection (14c.) and directly from Latin intersectionem (nominative intersectio) "a cutting asunder, intersection," noun of action from past-participle stem of intersecare "intersect, cut asunder," from inter- "between" (see inter-
    carrefour
    late 15c., "place where four ways meet," from Old French carrefor (13c., quarrefour), from Medieval Latin quadrifurcus "four-forked," from Latin quatuor "four" (from PIE root *kwetwer- "four") + furca "two-pronged fork" (a word of unknown etymology). "Formerly quite naturalized,
    passage
    early 13c., "a road, a pathway;" c. 1300, "action of crossing from one place to another; a going over or through something...; means of crossing," from Old French passage "mountain pass, passage" (11c.), from passer "to go by," from Vulgar Latin...
    photo
    Photo-finish, of a race that ends with two or more competitors crossing the finishing line at nearly the same time (so a...photograph taken at the finish line at the moment of crossing is the only way to determine who won) is attested from 1936...
    plaid
    The meaning "a pattern of bars crossing each other at right angles" is by 1890....As an adjective, "ornamented with a pattern of bars or stripes of color crossing one another at right angles," c. 1600, from...
    corral
    In U.S. history, "wide circle of the wagons of an ox- or mule-train formed for protection at night by emigrants crossing...
    disappoint
    mid-15c., disappointen, "dispossess of appointed office," from dis- "reverse, opposite of" + appoint, or else from Old French desapointer "undo the appointment, remove from office" (14c., Modern French from désappointer). Modern sense of "to frustrate the expectations or desires
    travel
    late 14c., "to journey," from travailen (1300) "to make a journey," originally "to toil, labor" (see travail). The semantic development may have been via the notion of "go on a difficult journey," but it also may reflect the difficulty of any journey in the Middle Ages. Replaced
    union
    early 15c., "action of joining one thing to another," also "agreement, accord," also "state of matrimony," from Anglo-French unioun, Old French union (12c.), from Late Latin unionem (nominative unio) "oneness, unity, a uniting," also in Latin meaning "a single pearl or onion," fr

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