kræft

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German kreft, krevet (“crayfish, cancer”), from Proto-Germanic *krabitaz. Cognates include Swedish kräfta (“crayfish, cancer”) (also from Low German), German Krebs (“crayfish, cancer”) and Dutch kreeft (“crayfish”). The Danish word krebs (“crayfish”) is a German loan.

The transferred meaning is influenced by Latin cancer (which in turn is influenced by Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crayfish, cancer”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkʁ̥æfd̥], [ˈkʁ̥afd̥], [ˈkʁ̥ɑfd̥]
• Homophone: kraft (except in some older speakers)*

Noun

kræft c (singular definite kræften, not used in plural form)

1. cancer (disease)

Declension

Declension of kræft

common gender	Singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	kræft	kræften
genitive	kræfts	kræftens

Synonyms

• cancer

Descendants

• → Greenlandic: kræfti