The first element 'Cro' in 'Cro Magnon' is presumably a dialectal form of creux, meaning "cavity" or "hollow". Forms like "crau", "cro" or "crouè" are found in French dialects, and each of them probably derives, through the hypothetical Vulgar Latin *crosus, from a Celtic root. The second element "Magnon" is almost definitely the augmentative of the Old French adjective "magne", derived from the Latin magnus, meaning "large" or "great" and ultimately deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root *megh- (related to English much and Icelandic 'mikill'). Thus, the probable original meaning is ""large cave". The Icelandic name for the Cro-Magnon man is "Miklhellisbúi".
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