Meaning

noun a wooden structure consisting of an upright post with a transverse piece

noun a marking that consists of lines that cross each other

noun a representation of the structure on which Jesus was crucified; used as an emblem of Christianity or in heraldry

originFrom Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux (crucī). In this sense displaced native Middle English rode, from Old English rōd (“cross”); see English rood. Doublet of crouch (“cross”) and crux. Compare Welsh croes, Irish crois. The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0