# craic
## English
### Etymology

A variant of crack (“conviviality, fun; good company; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humorous storytelling; mischief”) (Ireland, Northern Ireland (Ulster)), from Scots crack (“free and easy conversation; gossip, talk”), possibly from Middle English crak (“bursting or splitting sound, crash”), from craken (“to make a bursting or splitting sound, crack”), from Old English cracian (“to make a bursting or splitting sound, crack; to resound”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną (“to crack or crackle; to shriek”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”). Doublet of crack. The spelling craic is partly borrowed:
* from Irish craic, probably from English crack (“conviviality, fun; etc.”) (Ireland, Northern Ireland (Ulster)) (see above); and
* (especially in Scotland) from Scottish Gaelic craic, crac, either from Irish craic or Scots crack (see above).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American, Ireland) IPA: /kɹæk/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Audio (Ireland):(file)
* Homophone: crack
* Rhymes: -æk

### Noun

craic (uncountable)
* (Ireland) Often preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company; also, pleasant conversation. [from late 20th c.]
** 1991, Mary Leland, chapter 10, in Approaching Priests, London: Sinclair-Stevenson, →ISBN, page 172:‘It is a great atmosphere, isn’t it?’ Leon was enthusiastic, not at all cryptic or withdrawn, wholeheartedly enjoying the ‘craic’, as he called it, slapping his hand on the table in time to the bodhrán rhythm from the group singing itself hoarse and unharmonious on the stage.
** 1995 September 9, “Dara: Ireland’s Most Successful Record Label [advertisement]”, in Timothy White, editor, Billboard: The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment, volume 107, number 36, New York, N.Y.: BPI Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 84:"The craic" is how the Irish celebrate life – with music, with laughter, with joy, with old friends (and new friends just waiting to be made). […] Be careful. "The craic" is mighty!
** [2004 November 18, John Waters, “What's the crack?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-01-29:Most Irish people, you see, when asked to name their preferred aspect of living in Ireland, will instance "the crack". "The crack", which is sometimes annoyingly conveyed in the Irish-language spelling "craic", is a quintessentially Irish indicator of what in other cultures translates roughly as "fun" – except that the crack is much more than fun.]
** 2007 November 19, Kevin Cullen, “His peace in poetry”, in The Boston Globe‎, Boston, Mass.: The Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-03-12:[Brendan] Kennelly has been sober for 21 years, but couldn't resist popping into some of the city's myriad Irish pubs. He nursed bottled water and listened to the accents, the stories, the craic.
** 2015, Ben Ritchie, “A Bit of Craic”, in Phil Murphy, editor, Original Writing from Ireland’s Own: An Anthology of the Best Stories from the Annual Writing Competitions Run by Ireland’s Premier Family Magazine, 2015 edition, Dublin: Original Writing, →ISBN, “Highly Commended” section, page 161:"Sure, it will be a bit of craic," said Beth, "when's the last time a fortune teller came anywhere near here?"

#### Derived terms

* craic killer
* what's the craic

#### See also

* bonhomie
* conviviality

### References

* ↑ “crack, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024.
* ↑ Joseph Wright, editor (1898), “CRACK, sb.$^1$, v. and adj.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume I (A–C), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 762–763: “Talk, conversation, gossip, chat. […] A tale, good story, joke; gossip, scandal.”
* ↑ “crack, n.$^1$”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
* ↑ “crā̆k, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* ↑ “crā̆ken, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* ↑ Joseph Bosworth (1882) “cracian”, in T[homas] Northcote Toller, editor, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 168, column 1.
* ↑ “craic, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2024.

### Further reading

* craic on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* ARCIC, Ricca, circa

## Irish
### Etymology

From English crack.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kɾˠac/

### Noun

craic f (genitive singular craice, nominative plural craiceanna)
* crack
* conversation, chat, fun
* crazy person

#### Declension

bare forms
singular
plural
nominative
craic
craiceanna
vocative
a chraic
a chraiceanna
genitive
craice
craiceanna
dative
craic
craiceanna
forms with the definite article
singular
plural
nominative
an chraic
na craiceanna
genitive
na craice
na gcraiceanna
dative
leis an gcraic don chraic
leis na craiceanna :

#### Synonyms

* (fun): spórt, spraoi

#### Derived terms

* craiceáil (“crack”, verb)

#### Descendants

* → English: craic

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

## Scottish Gaelic
### Etymology

From English crack.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kʰɾɛçc/

### Noun

craic m (genitive singular craic, no plural)
* craic, chat, fun

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.