crowningn.
/ˈkraʊnɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈkraʊnɪŋ/ 1. † b. The period of a monarch's reign. Obsolete.
a. The action of placing a crown on a person's head; a coronation.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > [noun] > formal or ceremonial appointment > crowning
crowninga1250
crownmentc1300
coronation1388
encrownment?a1400
incoronation1470
crownationa1533
sacre1584
coroneting1881
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > token of victory or supreme excellence > [noun] > award for merit > wreath or fillet > investing with
crowninga1250
laureation1778
wreathing1852
a1250 Lofsong Lefdi (Nero) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 207 Ich bide þe..bi þe þornene crununge.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 2948 Þe feste of his corunig Laste..Fourti dawes.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 10101 He let him crouni king..At westmunstre in þe abbeye as þe riȝte crouninge is.
a1450 (a1400) Medit. Life & Passion of Christ (BL Add.) (1921) l. 570 Min herte..auȝte neuere to hauen reste..To þenkon on his coronyng.
a1486 Coronation Kings Eng. in Archaeologia (1900) 57 51 The crownynge of the Quene.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. TTTiiiv With the crownyng [of Christ] and other tormentes.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 83v Fforto come to the coronyng of þe kyd lord.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. ii. 87 Which kind of karoussing they call the crowning of the Emperor.
1656 A. Cowley Poems i. 40 The pomp of Kings..At their Crownings.
1767 London Mag. June 301/2 The archbishop entrusted to him..the solliciting from the pope those prohibitory letters against the crowning of Prince Eustace.
1820 A. Taylor Glory of Regality (title page) An historical treatise of the anointing and crowning of the kings and queens of England.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) II. x. 513 The walls which beheld their crowning beheld also their burial.
1918 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics X. 638/1 The position of the Church was that of witness to a contract between ruler and people at the crowning of a king.
1995 Countryman Summer 55 The crowning of the May Queen,..and dancing round the maypole.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > sole rule > [noun] > rule or reign > period of
crowning1258
reigna1382
1258 Proclam. Henry III in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1868–9) 21 Witnesse vs seluen æt Lunden..in þe twoandfowertiȝþe ȝeare of vre cruninge.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9055 (MED) Þo was þoru þe king arerd þe abbey of redinge, In þe tuo & tuentiþe ȝer of is crouninge [c1400 BL Add. corounyng].
a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 742 Þe furst day of his crownynge In to spousebreche he felle anone.
1624 S. Jerome Irelands Iubilee iii. xiii. 188 The life of that famous virgin Queene, was persecuted and prosecuted, by the bloudie Romish Saulites, from the first houre of her Crowning to the last of her death.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > cleanness (ceremonial) > tonsure > [noun] > instance of
Christ's marka1225
crownc1275
crowningc1400
tonsure1430
corona1882
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. Prol. l. 88 Maistres and doctours, Þat han cure vnder criste and crounyng in tokne.
3. Consummation; completion, fulfilment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > [noun]
enda1300
chevisancec1330
applyinga1382
perfectiona1382
pointc1385
finishmentc1400
accomplishingc1405
complement1419
consummationa1425
effecta1425
performinga1425
accomplishment1425
fining?1448
complishing1449
complishment1454
achevisauncec1475
achievement1477
perfectinga1513
cheving?1518
furniture1529
achievance1531
exploiture1531
exploiting1538
perimplishment1554
consummating1555
finishing?1563
chevance1570
coronation1582
crowning1586
adimpletion1624
fulfilment1624
complusmenta1628
completure1642
completement1652
transaction1655
patration1656
perfunction1656
completion1657
completing1727
ultimation1791
finality1833
perfectuation1859
fruition1885
1586 S. Bredwell Detection E. Glouers Hereticall Confection ii. 113 Therefore as the midle graces and meanes come to vs, by the mere free gift of God, so of necesitie, the finall crowning of them must be reckoned: that all the glorie may be the Lordes.
1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades ii. 304 Let two or three, that by themselves advise, Faint in their crowning.
1693 R. Crosfeild England's Glory Reviv'd 16 But that which would be the Crowning of the Work, is, That God would then give a Blessing to our Publick Undertakings.
1748 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 164/1 A section is added upon human life and manners... From this part, as the crowning of all the rest, we have given the foregoing Vision of Theodore.
1810 Evangelical Mag. Nov. 451/1 The crowning of the whole was the presence of the Lord.
1857 C. Heavysege Saul iii. iv. vi. 259 A Power that stands between My purpose and its crowning.
1890 W. Stubbs Primary Charge 55 They are the very crowning of the sin of schism, the forcible rending of the mystical body of the Lord.
1922 K. Burke Let. 20 Feb. in Sel. Corr. K. Burke & M. Cowley (1988) 113 Art is the crowning of a life.
2012 K. Cooper & R. E. White Qualitative Res. Post-Mod. Era vi. 94 Postmodernity..is the ultimate crowning of the modern dream of freedom.
4. Obstetrics. Originally: †the external os of the uterus (see os n.3), esp. as it surrounds the baby's head during labour (obsolete); †the state of the head or stage of labour when this occurs (obsolete). In later use: the appearance of the baby's head in the vulval opening, esp. when the head no longer recedes during contractions; the stage of labour when this occurs. Cf. crown v.1 12.
ΚΠ
1672 H. Chamberlen tr. F. Mauriceau Dis. Women with Child ii. viii. 184 (caption) The inward orifice, which surrounds the Childs head like a Crown, wherefore it is called the crowning , or garland [Fr. le couronnement].
1703 tr. P. Dionis Anat. Humane Bodies Improv'd 193 When the Midwives touch this Orifice, they find that it encompasses the head of the Fœtus like a Crown; and this State they call the Crowning.
1746 T. Tomkyns tr. G. de La Motte Gen. Treat. Midwifry iii. xvii. 323 I found her without pain, and the head of the child advanced at the passage, and ready to appear at the crowning.
1850 R. P. Thomas tr. P. Cazeaux Theoret. & Pract. Treat. Midwifery 292 The head is then said to be at the crowning.
1873 W. Leishman Syst. Midwifery xv. 289 The head is arrested..at the moment when its greatest diameter is encircled by the circumference of the vulva, but it does not now recede. This has been called the stage of ‘crowning’.
1930 Lancet 26 July 184 Returned shortly before the ‘crowning’ of the head.
1977 P. Leech Baby & Child 24 It is for the near-end of her struggle that we should celebrate the ‘crowning’ when that dark-wet hair at last appears at the vaginal opening.
2005 Jrnl. Midwifery & Women's Health 50 365 No touching of the perineum until crowning of the infant's head.
5. A structure or part that forms the crown of something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > upper part > top piece or part
overmosta1382
overesta1400
topple14..
uppermost1484
topgallant1581
upmost1589
crownwork1594
heading1665
battlement1667
crowning1692
crown piece1766
surmounting1812
crista1849
surmount1879
1692 tr. C. Perrault Abridgm. Archit. Vitruvius i. iv. 95 All the Crowning [Fr. ce couronnement] should have the 4th part of the height of the Pillar.
1704 tr. A. de Ovalle Of Kingdom of Chile in A. Churchill & J. Churchill Coll. Voy. III. 122/1 The..Row of Seats reaches, with its Crowning or Ornaments, to the..Roof.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Gorge of a Chimney, is the Part between the Chambranle, and the Crowning of the Mantle.
?1786 J. Carter Specimens Anc. Sculpt. & Painting I. 15 A Bass Relief in the crowning of the Arch-way at the Entrance to St. Mary's Hall.
1798 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 25/2 The anchor and hope is a beautiful, and, in point of allegorical allusion, a perfect crowning to your obelisk.
1829 J. Britton Bath & Bristol 26 With conformity of design in its three-quarter columns, its architrave, and crownings.
1901 R. Sturgis Dict. Archit. I. 687 Its [sc. the corona's] absence from most Gothic wall crownings is the most striking difference between the Gothic and classic systems of wall crowning.
1966 A. Boner in A. Boner & S. R. Śarmā tr. R. Kaulācāra Śilpa Prakāśa Introd p. xlvi The caitya windows having been transformed into vajramastakas—circular, decorative crownings with sometimes a figure or face in the place of the window opening.
2010 R. Posamentir Polychrome Grave Stelai from Early Hellenistic Necropolis viii. 227 Having either a gabled crowning or a flat roof.
6. Chiefly Nautical. The interweaving of strands of rope to tie a knot (see crown knot n. at crown n. Compounds 3a).
ΚΠ
1754 W. Emerson Princ. Mech. 203 If the three strands are wrought round once or twice more after the same manner, it is called crowning.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Crowning, the finishing part of a knot made on the end of a rope..performed by interweaving the ends of the..strands..so as that they may not become..untwisted.
1808 D. Lever Young Officer's Sheet Anchor 6 Passing the Strands..under the Wallings on the left of them, and through the small Bights, when the Ends will come up for the second crowning.
1915 U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 638. 1 Rope work. Exercise 1. Whipping, crowning, and granny and square knots.
1921 Mining Catal. 104/2 At A, the knot is shown started and ready for drawing tight; at B it is ready for crowning; and at C it is crowned and ready for tightening.
Compounds
C1. General attributive in sense 1a, as crowning ceremony, crowning day, crowning place, etc.
ΚΠ
1575 U. Fulwell Flower of Fame f. 15 As he passed through the streates, vnto the crowning place: Eche man erectes his cheerefull voyce.
1660 J. Mullinax Symplegades Antrum 55 Great Monarch live, we humbly waite and pray To see thy happy, blessed, Crowning day.
1736 R. Erskine Paraphr. Song of Solomon 87 His wedding and his crowning Day Their pompous Joys unite.
1813 E. S. Barrett Heroine III. xlv. 265 The crowning ceremony was merely to amuse her guests at my expence.
1829 R. Southey All for Love iv. 46 On the Crowning-day..A gay procession, take..their way.
1859 R. Buchanan James I. of Scotl. i. iv, in Tragic Dramas from Hist. (1868) I. 142 In breach thy bond and crowning oath,..thou hast..Our wholesome, antient, home-born usages, For light imported fopperies annulled.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Ess. 1st Ser. viii. 211 He chose Soissons for his crowning-place.
1917 Rotarian Aug. 126 Last come, we will be the last to stay, Till Right has had her crowning day.
1958 S. Runciman Sicilian Vespers iii. 49 A few days later he was solemnly crowned there, in the traditional crowning-place of the Emperors.
2004 C. L. Connor Women of Byzantium i. iii. 54 A significant innovation on her coinage..is the appearance on the obverses of a hand with a wreath hovering above her head, a divine crowning motif.
2006 J. S. Gaab Munich (2008) iii. 34 Ludwig refused to attend the crowning ceremony for his grandfather in the Hall of Mirrors.
C2. With adverbs and prepositions in specialized senses.
crowning-in n. (also crownings-in) Mining (now chiefly historical) subsidence of a surface over or around a shaft; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1836 Penny Mag. 9 July 267/1 A sudden ‘crownings in’ (as it is emphatically termed by the colliers), or falling in of the superincumbent strata, took place.
1849 G. Wynne Let. 1 Dec. in Rep. Commissioners Railways 1849 (1850) 77 On each side of the railway the surface of the ground presents a series of circular hollows or indentations caused by what is here termed the crowning in of the ground.
1886 F. Hackwood in C. Bradlaugh Compulsory Cultiv. Land (1887) (LSE Sel. Pamphlets) 19 If crownings-in were dropped; if miniature mountains rose to obstruct the view;..all this mattered not either to the [colliery] owner or to the manager as long as profits accumulated.
1953 Agric. Hist. 27 109/2 In 1865 ‘crownings in’ or sinking of the surface around the mouths of old shafts had rendered some areas useless.
2008 C. D. Prosser & J. G. Larwood in C. V. Burek & C. D. Prosser Hist. Geoconservation 227/2 There were regular reports of roof-falls and crowning-in.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
crowningadj.
/ˈkraʊnɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈkraʊnɪŋ/ 1. That places a crown on a person's head; bestowing a heavenly or earthly crown. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > [adjective] > appointing formally or ceremonially > crowning
crowning1591
1591 R. Robinson in tr. V. Strigel Proc. Harmonie King Dauids Harpe Ep. Ded. sig. A3 O excellent order of a princely warfare, O more surpassing vertue of diuine deliuerance, O most blisfull Conquerour by the crowning Creator.
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxiii. 8 Who hath taken this counsell against Tyre the crowning citie [L. coronatam; 1885 R.V. margin, that giveth crowns] . View more context for this quotation
1782 W. B. Stevens Poems 27 Humbly to hope, from Virtue's crowning hand, Bliss in a future age, a fairer world.
1835 London Lit. Gaz. 9 May 299/3 When the wreath, Dy'd by the blood of Vict'ry's crowning hand, Withers to nothing on the warrior's brow.
1979 P. Grant Images & Ideas in Lit. Eng. Renaissance ii. 39 We see..the church triumphant (the crowning hand and the unlocking of heaven).
1995 H. Maguire in R. G. Ousterhout & L. Brubaker Sacred Image East & West 66 The crowning angel is not raised above the emperor, but both are raised together, onto the same level.
2. That forms the acme or culmination of something; highest, supreme.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > [adjective]
consummating1582
teleiotical1601
complemental1602
crowning1604
consummative1614
consummatory1623
completing1656
completory1659
telesiurgic1662
completive1677
finishing1705
teleiotic1705
accompletive1826
finial1888
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > perfection > [adjective] > most or completely perfect
consummatea1530
crowning1604
sublime1605
vertical1641
preterpluperfect1652
preterperfecta1784
pluterperfect1908
1604 J. Hanson Time is Turne-coate 42 Then would he ne're atchieue Heau'ns crowning Fame, Then would in hell be charactred his shame.
1651 O. Cromwell Let. 4 Sept. in Lett. & Speeches (1904) II. 225 The dimensions of this mercy are above my thought. It is, for aught I know, a crowning mercy.
1746 J. Hervey Medit. 61 Heaven's last, best, and crowning Gift.
1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. xiv. 315 The crowning event of this period.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 386 This last act, or crowning folly.
1934 A. J. P. Taylor Ital. Probl. European Diplomacy iv. 194 The beginning of the new era of force which led directly to the Wars of 1859 and 1866 and indirectly to the crowning disaster of the Great War.
1964 F. E. Adcock Rom. Polit. Ideas & Pract. 81 The crowning moment of his career.
2006 Independent 22 Nov. 7/4 Altman's ability to construct complex ensemble movies remains perhaps his crowning achievement.
3. Situated above or on the top of something; surmounting.hill-crowning: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > high position > [adjective] > of or relating to the top > situated at the top
head1556
surmounting1661
crowning1816
1757 J. Dyer Fleece iv. 142 Whose hill-crowning walls Shine, like the rising Moon, through wat'ry mists.
1816 G. S. Faber Origin Pagan Idolatry III. v. vii. 240 In the last or crowning tower, there was a large temple.
1867 A. Barry Life & Wks. Sir C. Barry ii. 49 The crowning cornice.
1899 E. Hubbard Little Journeys to Homes of Eminent Painters 476 The lad came to know each wild crag, and crowning fortress, and bend in the river.
1950 P. I. Wellman Chain 442 The tower..had become a thing of beauty in the rebuilding, by reason of a crowning spire, lofty and slender.
2001 T. James in J. S. Scott & P. Simpson-Housley Mapping Sacred i. viii. 149 To speak of the rock form as if its crowning trees and shrubs were a ‘wig’ crowning a cerebrum shows Curnow flirting with the pathetic fallacy.
4. That rises to a rounded summit or centre; arching. Also: having a rounded or arched top; (literary) full to the brim, overflowing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > [adjective] > rounded or not angular > at the top, end, etc.
round top1798
crowning1812
round-headed1817
bull-nosed1904
1812 D. C. Sanders Hist. Indian Wars xxix. 309 A covered way..with parallel walls, 231 feet apart, with a crowning road between.
1840 Cultivator Feb. 30/2 He..possesses the same good points in which long hogs are generally so deficient; a strong, slightly crowning back, and thick hams and shoulders.
1844 Tegg's Mag. Knowl. & Amusement 1 411 The gay reveller, of crowning cups and goblets flowing over.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam Epil. 208 Again the feast, the speech, the glee,..The crowning cup, the three times three. View more context for this quotation
1931 F. B. Miller Soldiers & Sailors of Plantation of Lower St. Georges 16 The garrison was on crowning ground in the central part of the peninsula.
2001 J. Botts Play Action x. 90 A fanciful but sham headboard, its crowning surface scorched to uneven black gullies by countless cigarets.
Compounds
crowning glory n. (a) the best or most notable feature of something; the greatest achievement; (b) humorous a person's hair.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > [noun]
hairc1000
wire1576
strummel1725
crowning glory1780
suit1803
floss1846
moss1847
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > worthy of notice
notabilityc1390
notables1484
bumming sound1598
grandee1622
observable1639
remarkable1639
observanda1663
remark1675
observation1736
crowning glory1780
attentiona1806
notabilia1849
day1918
one for the (end) books (also book)1922
a1672 P. Sterry Rise Kingdom of God (1683) 347 That Glory, which thou hast given to me, I have given to them: that they may be One, as we are One. This is the concluding, and crowning Glory.]
1780 Whitehall Evening-post 20–22 Jan. The crowning glory of the whole was, that the English carefully concealed their loss..but our (the Spaniards) loss was, one man killed and two wounded!
1852 Godey's Lady's Bk. July 103/1 This institution [sc. the Academy of Fine Arts] is, indeed, one of the crowning glories of Philadelphia.
1893 Washington Post 26 May 5/6 (heading) Attend to your crowning glory... Take care of your hair, girls.
1908 S. M. Crothers By Christmas Fire iv. 140 There are many beautiful things in the store to be admired from below; but one supremely beautiful and delectable object is the crowning glory of the place.
1996 Swimming Times May 36/4 The crowning glory of her lifelong interest in swimming came in 1995 when she was elected Somerset County's first ever Life Member.
2011 Daily Tel. 11 July 24/1 An estimated 10,000 men [are] now getting surgical help to improve their crowning glory every year.
crowning jewel n. figurative the best or most notable feature of something; the most impressive or important part.
ΚΠ
1829 F. B. B. St. Leger Tales of Passion I. 247 He who had been the crowning jewel of the diadem—he in whom had been centred all the strongest feelings that ever had existed in the breast of Alice.
1942 Manch. Guardian 20 Aug. 4/5 Japan..has had the conquest of Asia, with India for the crowning jewel, as its dominating ambition throughout the last four centuries.
2010 C. Palahniuk Tell-all (2011) 61 She is the crowning jewel of our American theatrical tradition.
crowning pulley n. Engineering (now rare) = crowned pulley n. at crowned adj. Compounds 1.
ΚΠ
1860 U.S. Patent 26,810 1/2 By this means an ordinary laborer is enabled to accurately and smoothly face a crowning pulley in less than one-tenth part of the time and with a more perfect finish than can be accomplished by an expert finisher with the customary appliances.
1887 Mech. News 1 Sept. 180/3 The splitting of a belt which is working on a crowning pulley will result in one-half of the belt climbing upon the other.
1903 Amer. Machinist 7 May 654/2 The belt runs toward the highest side for the very same reason that a belt will stay on a crowning pulley.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1250adj.1591- early modern
- early modern english
- early music
- early musician
- early newington
- duck-billed platypus
- duck-billed speculum
- duck-boarded
- duck-chicken
- duck-dance
- duck-decoying
- duck-disease
- duck-dive
- duck-diving
- duck-eagle
- duck-egg blue
- duck-fattener
- duck-fattening
- duck-foot
- duck-footed
- duck-gravel
- duck-gun
- duck-hawk
- duck-hearted
- duck-house