noun 1.a ceremonial staff carried by a bishop or an abbot, hooked at one end like a shepherd's crook. See illus. under
cope2.
2.Botany. the circinate young frond of a
fern.
Origin: 1350–1400; short for
crosier-staff; Middle English crosier staff-bearer <
Middle French; replacing
Middle English crocer <
Anglo-French. See
crosse,
-er2 Related forms cro·siered, adjective