Crown

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /kraÊŠn/
• Rhymes: -aÊŠn

From Anglo-Norman coroune, curune, Old French corone (French couronne), from Latin corona ("wreath")

Full definition of crown

Noun

1. A reward of victory or a mark of honor.
2. A royal, imperial or princely headdress; a diadem.
3. (heraldry) A representation of such a headdress, as in heraldry; it may even be that only the image exists, no physical crown, as in the case of the kingdom of Belgium; by analogy such crowns can be awarded to moral persons that don't even have a head, as the mural crown for cities in heraldry
4. A wreath or band for the head.
5. Imperial or regal power, or those who wield it.
6. The sovereign (in a monarchy), as head of state.
• BlackstoneParliament may be dissolved by the demise of the crown.
7. (by extension, especially in legal) The state, the government (headed by a monarch).Treasure recovered from shipwrecks automatically becomes property of the Crown.
• MacaulayLarge arrears of pay were due to the civil and military servants of the crown.
8. The topmost part of the head.
• ShakespeareFrom toe to crown he'll fill our skin with pinches.
• BunyanTwenty things which I set down:
  This done, I twenty more had in my crown.
9. The highest part of a hill.
• Drydenthe steepy crown of the bare mountains
10. The top section of a hat, above the brim.
11. The raised centre of a road.
12. The highest part of an arch.
13. Splendor; culmination; acme.
• Miltonmutual love, the crown of all our bliss
14. Any currency (originally) issued by the crown (regal power) and often bearing a crown (headdress); (translation) various currencies known by similar names in their native languages, such as the koruna, kruna, krone
1. (historical) Particularly, a former pre-decimalization British coin worth five shillings.
• 1859, J.C. Hotten, A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar WordsHalf-a-crown is known as an alderman, half a bull, half a tusheroon, and a madza caroon; whilst a crown piece, or five shillings, may be called either a bull, or a caroon, or a cartwheel, or a coachwheel, or a thick-un, or a tusheroon.
15. (botany) The part of a plant where the root and stem meet.
16. (forestry) The top of a tree.
17. (anatomy) The part of a tooth above the gums.
18. (dentistry) A prosthetic covering for a tooth.
19. (nautical) A knot formed in the end of a rope by tucking in the strands to prevent them from unravelling
20. (nautical) The part of an anchor where the arms and the shank meet
21. (nautical) The rounding, or rounded part, of the deck from a level line.
22. (nautical, in the plural) The bights formed by the turns of a cable.
23. (paper) A standard size of printing paper measuring 20 inches x 15 inches.
24. (chemistry) A monocyclic ligand having three or more binding sites, capable of holding a guest in a central location
25. (medical) During childbirth, the appearance of the baby's head from the mother's vagina
• 2007, David Schottke, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, First Responder: Your First Response in Emergency Care, page 385You will see the baby's head crowning during contractions, at which time you must prepare to assist the mother in the delivery of the baby.
26. (firearms) A rounding or smoothing of the barrel opening
27. The upper range of facets in a rose diamond.
28. The dome of a furnace.
29. (geometry) The area enclosed between two concentric perimeters.
30. (religion) A round spot shaved clean on the top of the head, as a mark of the clerical state; the tonsure.

Synonyms

• (reward of victory or a mark of honor) award, garland, honor/honour, prize, wreath
• (royal, imperial or princely headdress) coronet
• (representation of such a headdress)
• (wreath or band for the head) garland, wreath
• (imperial or regal power) monarchy, royalty
• (of the head) apex, top
• (of a hill) apex, peak, summit, top
• (centre of a road)
• (highest part of an arch)
• (of a hat) top
• (splendor, finish, culmination) completion, culmination, finish, splendor/splendour
• (currency)
• (British coin) caser, tusheroon, tush, tosheroon, tosh, bull, caroon, thick-un, coachwheel, cartwheel
• (part of plant)
• (anatomy: part of tooth) corona
• (dentistry: prosthetic covering for a tooth)

Antonyms

• (of a hill) base, bottom, foot

Derived terms

Adjective

1. Of, related to, or pertaining to a crown.crown prince
2. Of, related to, pertaining to the top of a tree or trees.a crown fire

Verb

1. To place a crown on the head of.
2. To formally declare (someone) a king, queen, emperor, etc.
• DrydenHer who fairest does appear,
  Crown her queen of all the year.
3. To bestow something upon as a mark of honour, dignity, or recompense; to adorn; to dignify.
• Bible, Psalms viii. 5Thou ... hast crowned him with glory and honour.
4. To form the topmost or finishing part of; to complete; to consummate; to perfect.
• Byronthe grove that crowns yon tufted hill
• MotleyTo crown the whole, came a proposition.
5. To declare (someone) a winner.
• 2011, October 23, Tom Fordyce, 2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France, New Zealand were crowned world champions for the first time in 24 years after squeezing past an inspired France team by a single point.
6. (medicine) Of a baby, during the birthing process; for the surface of the baby's head to appear in the vaginal opening.
   The mother was in the second stage of labor and the fetus had just crowned, prompting a round of encouragement from the midwives.
7. (transitive) To cause to round upward; to make anything higher at the middle than at the edges, such as the face of a machine pulley.
8. To hit on the head.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 6, &lquo;… I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”. We nearly crowned her we were so offended. She saw us but she didn't know us, did she?’.
9. (video games) To shoot an opponent in the back of the head with a shotgun in a first-person shooter video game.
10. (board games) In checkers, to stack two checkers to indicate that the piece has become a king.
    “Crown me!” I said, as I moved my checker to the back row.
11. (firearms) To widen the opening of the barrel.
12. (military) To effect a lodgment upon, as upon the crest of the glacis, or the summit of the breach.
13. (nautical) To lay the ends of the strands of (a knot) over and under each other.

Derived terms

• crowned

Verb

1. (obsolete) Past participle of crow
• ByronThe cock had crown.