English Explanatory Dictionary

kraken

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Alternative form of Kraken.
name
  1. A colossal sea monster that attacks ships and sailors, often portrayed as a giant octopus or squid.
noun
  1. Short for Kraken variant (“SARS-CoV-2 virus variant XBB.1.5”).

Pronunciation

/ˈkɹæ.kən/ /ˈkɹɑː.kən/ /ˈkɹeɪ.kən/ /-kɪn/

Word forms

kraken krakens krake

Etymology

Borrowed from Norwegian kraken (Bokmål entry; Nynorsk entry), definite singular of krake (“crooked dead tree, wooden drag/grapnel”) (Bokmål entry; Nynorsk entry), both from Old Norse kraki (“crooked dead tree, wooden drag/grapnel”, literally “crookie: something with crooks/hooks”), from Proto-Germanic *krankaz (“crooked”).

Related words

release the kraken

Derived words

Kraken Mare Kraken variant
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on K Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary