What does cricket mean?
Cricket is an English word with two entirely distinct everyday meanings. Most literally, it names a small leaping insect related to the grasshopper, famous for the rhythmic chirping song that males produce by rubbing their forewings together — a sound long associated with warm summer nights. Separately, cricket refers to a major team sport, played between two sides of eleven with a flat bat and hard ball on a large oval field, in which runs are scored and wickets taken. The game enjoys enormous popularity in Britain, India, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, and the Caribbean, and phrases such as 'play cricket' and 'a cricket match' are firmly established there. The two senses share only a name; their origins are debated, with one theory linking the sport's name to the insect's chirp. The word also survives in the informal British idiom 'not cricket', meaning unfair or dishonourable behaviour, a reminder of the strong association between the game and ideals of fair play.
A nocturnal jumping insect of the family Gryllidae, resembling a grasshopper, whose male produces a chirping call by rubbing its wings together.
"A cricket had found its way into the kitchen and chirped loudly behind the fridge."
An outdoor team game played with a bat and ball between two teams of eleven players on a pitch at the centre of an oval field, in which runs are scored and wickets taken.
"They spent every Sunday afternoon playing cricket on the village green."
This sense dominates in Britain, South Asia, Australasia, and the Caribbean; the game is governed internationally by the ICC.
(British, informal) Fair, sporting behaviour — used almost exclusively in the negative phrase 'not cricket'.
"Charging guests extra for coffee seemed decidedly not cricket."
Standard plural, used chiefly for the insect; the sport is treated as an uncountable mass noun ('playing cricket'), so a plural form applies mainly to the animal.
"The meadow was loud with crickets after dark."
Etymologists genuinely don't know where the name of cricket comes from — one leading theory ties it to the insect's chirping, making it possibly the only major sport named after a bug.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cricket
The origins of 'cricket' are genuinely uncertain, and dictionaries flag both senses accordingly. The insect name appears to have come into English in the Middle English period via Old French 'criquet', likely connected to an imitative Romance-Germanic root evoking cracking or creaking sounds — fitting for a chirping insect, and plausibly related to Dutch 'kriek' and words like 'creek' and 'crick'. The sport's name first appears in English in the sixteenth century; its ultimate derivation is disputed, with suggested sources ranging from a stick-and-ball game called 'creag' to Middle Dutch 'krick(e)' meaning a stick, while another theory links it to the insect, since early games were played on sheep-grazed fields where crickets were abundant.
How cricket is actually used
Both senses are fully standard in British and American English, though the sport carries far greater cultural weight in Britain and Commonwealth countries than in the US, where 'cricket' more often evokes the insect. The figurative phrase 'not cricket' is distinctly British and somewhat old-fashioned, implying conduct that is unfair or unsporting. In American usage, 'Jiminy Cricket' is also familiar as a fictional character name.
Easily confused with cricket
A wicket is one of the sets of three stumps that bowlers aim at in cricket — it is part of the game of cricket, not another word for the game or insect itself.