Sunday Rest: crus. Word Not To Use Today.

Foot by Agnolo di Cosimo, as borrowed by Monty Python.


Crus is a perfectly innocent word plagued by bad echoes.

Pus, crust, crud, truss...it's enough to make one feel one really doesn't want to know more.

This is a pity, because as it happens a crus isn't anything nasty or putrid at all. In fact it's something rather jolly.

Crus means the leg, especially from the knee downwards, including the foot.

If it's used in the plural, then it can be used to describe anything leg-like.

Ah, but what is the plural of crus?

Crura.

Which is quite neat, too, huh?

Word Not To Use Today: crus. This word appeared in the English language in the 1600s. It's the Latin word for leg.