krotny

Krotny is a Polish adjective with two main senses. In contemporary usage, it denotes multiplicity or repetition and is used in compounds that express how often something occurs or to what degree. It is commonly found in phrases such as dwukrotny (twofold), trzykrotny (threefold), kilkukrotny (several times), and wielokrotny (many times). In this sense, krotny functions similarly to the English suffix “-fold” as in twofold or threefold.

In older or literary Polish, krotny can also describe a person or action as wicked or unscrupulous, similar to meanings like “diabolical” or “notorious.” This sense is less common in everyday speech today but appears in historical texts, in certain idioms, and in rhetorical or stylistic contexts.

Krotny can also appear as a surname in Poland. As a proper noun, it is encountered in genealogical records and contemporary usage, though it remains relatively uncommon.

Origin and related forms: the word is built from the root krot-, which underlies a family of adjectives describing multiplicity or repetition. It participates in a range of compounds that express frequency, extent, or degree, and its exact historical development is tied to the broader Polish system of multipliers and ordinal-like formations.