LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

crīnis

crīnis m (genitive crīnis)
Classical[ˈkriː.nɪs]Ecclesiastical[ˈkriː.nis]

Meaning

  1. hair of the head, lock of hair, plume
    Nōndum illī flāvum Prōserpina vertice crīnemProserpina had not yet taken that lock of blonde hair from [Dido’s] head, [nor] condemned [the queen’s] life to Stygian Orcus. (Frieze, Henry [1876], Virgil’s Aeneid, 2nd ed., pg 463: “A lock of hair is cut from the forehead of the dying as a sign of dedication to the gods below.”)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.698-699
  2. tail of a comet

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

capillus, coma
crīnis -is (m) — in Aeneis, ch. 6

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Crinis · Capillus · Coma · Cæsaries · Pilus · Cirrus · Cincinnus

1. Crinis and capillus denote the natural hair merely in a physical sense, like θρίξ; crinis (from κάρηνον), any growth of hair, in opposition to the parts on which hair does not grow; capillus (from caput), only the hair of the head, in opp. to the beard, etc. Liv. vi. 16. Suet. Aug. 23. Cels. vi. 2. Cic. Tusc. v. 20. Rull. ii. 5; whereas in coma and cæsaries the accessory notion of beauty, as an object of sense, is involved, inasmuch as hair is a natural ornament of the body, or itself the object of ornament; coma (κόμη) is especially applicable to the hair of females; cæsaries, to that of males, like ἔθειρα. Hence crinitus means nothing more than covered with hair; capillatus is used in opp. to bald-headed, Petron. 26, and the Galli are styled comati, as wearing long hair, like καρηκομόωντες. 2. Crinis, capillus, coma, cæsaries, denote the hair in a collective sense, the whole growth of hair; whereas pilus means a single hair, and especially the short and bristly hair of animals. Hence pilosus is in opp. to the beautiful smoothness of the skin, as Cic. Pis. I; whereas crinitus and capillatus are in opp. to ugly nakedness and baldness. (iii. 14.) 3. Cirrus and cincinnus denote curled hair; cirrus (κόῤῥη) is a natural, cincinnus (κίκιννος) an artificial curl. (iii. 23.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativecrīniscrīnēs
genitivecrīniscrīnium
dativecrīnīcrīnibus
accusativecrīnemcrīnēs
crīnīs
ablativecrīnecrīnibus
vocativecrīniscrīnēs

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

passis crinibus
with dishevelled hair.
promittere crinem, barbam
to grow one's hair, beard long.

crīnis, is, m. (
I. fem., Atta ap. Non. p. 202, 29; acc. to the latter also Plaut. Most. 1, 3, 69; and so in Ritschl) [kindr. with crista; cf. κόρυς, κορυφή], the hair.
I. Prop. (class.; esp. freq. in the poets), Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 33, § 76; Caes. B. G. 1, 51; id. B. C. 3, 9; Liv. 1, 13, 1; 3, 7, 8 et saep.; Verg. A. 1, 480; Cat. 64, 391; Hor. C. 2, 5, 24; 2, 19, 20 et saep.: capere crines, i. e. to marry (since the matrons distinguished themselves from maidens by their hair-dress), Plaut. Most. 1, 3, 69; cf. id. Mil. 3, 1, 195; and Fest. p. 339, 23 Müll.—Collectively, in sing., = crines, Hor. C. 1, 32, 12; 2, 12, 23 sq.—
B. Rarely a hair: uxor rufa crinibus septem, Mart. 12, 32, 4.—
II. Meton., of objects resembling hair; so,
A. The tail of a comet, Verg. A. 5, 528; Ov. M. 15, 849; Plin. 2, 25, 22, §§ 89 and 90 al. (cf. crinitus, under crinio, II. B.); the rays of stars, Val. Fl. 2, 42; of the fire, id. 1, 205.—
B. The feelers of polypi: conchas (polypi) conplexu crinium frangunt, Plin. 9, 29, 46, § 86; of the cuttle-fish, Apic. 2, 1.—
C. The fibres of wood: crines ramentorum, Plin. 16, 42, 82, § 225.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *kriznis, probably from a Proto-Indo-European *kris-ni-s, from a root *(s)kreys- (“to shake”) (whose relation to *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”), if any, is uncertain), and cognate with Proto-Germanic *hrisjaną (“to shake”). Under this interpretation, hair is something which one can shake back and forth. This is tentatively accepted by de Vaan, albeit with significant reservations. Compare also Latin crista, crispus (“curly”), and Albanian krip.

Italo-Romance
  • Italiancrine
  • Italiancrina
Gallo-Romance
  • Catalancrin
  • Frenchcrin
  • Normancrîn
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesecrina
  • Spanishcrin
  • Asturianclin
  • Asturianclina
  • Galiciancrina
  • Galiciancrencha

Quick answers

What does crīnis mean in Latin?
crīnis, a noun, means “hair of the head, lock of hair, plume; tail of a comet”.
What is the genitive of crīnis?
The genitive singular is crīnis. crīnis is masculine, third declension.
How do you pronounce crīnis?
In classical Latin, [ˈkriː.nɪs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkriː.nis].