croon

verb

to hum or sing softly

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /kɹuːn/ / /kɹun/ / /krøn/

noun

Etymology: The verb is borrowed from Scots croon (“to utter a deep, long-drawn-out sound; to utter a lament, mourn; to sing in a wailing voice, whimper, whine; to mutter or sing in an undertone, hum”) [and other forms], from Middle English cronen (“to sing or speak softly, hum, croon”) (croyn (Scotland)) [and other forms], probably from Middle Dutch crônen, krônen (“to groan, moan; to lament”) (modern Dutch kreunen (“to moan”)), or Old High German chrônan, krônen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), probably from Proto-West Germanic *kraunijan, from Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”). The noun is partly: * borrowed from Scots croon (“a lament, wail; mournful song; low murmuring tune; (obsolete) long-drawn-out sound”), from croon (verb): see above; and * derived from the verb. Cognates * Middle Dutch krônen (modern Dutch kreunen (“to groan, moan; to lament”)) * Middle Low German kroenen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), kronen (“to growl; to grumble; to scold”) * Old High German chrônan, chrônnan (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”) * Saterland Frisian krȫnen (“to cause to weep”)

A soft, low-pitched sound; specifically, a soft or sentimental hum, song, or tune.
“O, a’ ye Bards on bonie Doon! / An’ vvha on Ayr your chanters tune! / Come, join the melancholious croon / O’ Robin’s reed! / His heart vvill never get aboon! / His Mailie’s dead!”
“Bitterly she cried as she thought over the old hag's croon:— / "Quick joy, long pain, / You will take your gift again."”
A continuous hollow low-pitched moan, as of cattle; a bellow.
“Amang the brachens, on the brae, / Betvveen her an' the moon, / The Deil, or elſe an outler Quey, / Gat up an' gae a croon: […]”
“The bittern mounts the morning air; / And rings the sky with quavering croon; […]”
The low-pitched sound of a large bell.

verb

To hum or sing (a song or tune), or to speak (words), softly in a low pitch or in a sentimental manner; specifically, to sing (a popular song) in a low, mellow voice.
“He was crooning a song.”
“Tam ſkelpit on thro' dub and mire, / Deſpiſing vvind, and rain, and fire; / VVhiles holding faſt his gude blue bonnet; / VVhiles crooning o'er ſome auld Scots ſonnet; […]”
To soothe (a person or an animal) by singing softly.
“[I]n his ill-remembered prayer, and in the fragment of the childish hymn with which he sung and crooned himself asleep, there breathed as true a spirit as ever studied homily expressed, or old cathedral arches echoed.”
““But, you know, crooners gonna croon.””
To hum or sing, or to speak, softly in a low pitch or in a sentimental manner; specifically, to sing a popular song in a low, mellow voice.
“She was crooning, but I couldn’t make out what the song was.”
“But hark! the robin takes up the strain. […] Thou art a type of the true poet, even of him who "crooneth to himsel" amid poverty, and want, and toil. Other birds require the sunshine and the flower to wake their musical utterances, but the drifting flake and the arrowy hail stay not thy song.”
To lament, to moan.
To make a continuous hollow low-pitched moan, as of cattle; to bellow, to low.
“Novv Clinkumbell, vvi' rattlin tovv, / Begins to jovv an' croon; […]”
“Even the dull cattle crooned and gazed, / And murmured and looked with anxious pain / For something the mystery to explain.”
Of a large bell: to make a low-pitched sound.