crown

1 of 2

noun

often attributive
1
: a reward of victory or mark of honor
especially : the title representing the championship in a sport
2
: a royal or imperial headdress or cap of sovereignty : diadem
3
: the highest part: such as
a
: the topmost part of the skull or head
b
: the summit of a mountain
c
: the head of foliage of a tree or shrub
d
: the part of a hat or other headgear covering the crown of the head
e
: the part of a tooth external to the gum or an artificial substitute for this see tooth illustration
4
: a wreath, band, or circular ornament for the head
5
a
: something resembling a wreath or crown
b
: the knurled cap on top of a watch stem
6
often capitalized
a(1)
: imperial or regal power : sovereignty
(2)
: the government under a constitutional monarchy
b
7
: something that imparts splendor, honor, or finish : culmination
8
a
: any of several old gold coins with a crown as part of the device
b
: an old usually silver British coin worth five shillings
9
a
: koruna
b
: krona
c
: krone
d
: kroon
10
a
: the region of a seed plant at which stem and root merge
b
: the arching end of the shank of an anchor where the arms join it see anchor illustration
crowned adjective
crownless adjective

crown

2 of 2

verb

crowned; crowning; crowns

transitive verb

1
a
: to place a crown or wreath on the head of
specifically : to invest with regal dignity and power
b
: to recognize officially as
they crowned her athlete of the year
c
: to award a championship to
crown a new champion
2
: to bestow something on as a mark of honor or recompense : adorn
3
: surmount, top
especially : to top (a checker) with a checker to make a king
4
: to bring to a successful conclusion : climax
the role that crowned her career
5
: to provide with something like a crown: such as
a
: to fill so that the surface forms a crown
b
: to put an artificial crown on (a tooth)
6
: to hit on the head

intransitive verb

1
of a forest fire : to burn rapidly through the tops of trees
2
in childbirth : to appear and begin to emerge headfirst or crown first at the vaginal opening
the baby's head crowned

Examples of crown in a Sentence

Noun The winner of the beauty pageant walked down the runway wearing her sparkling crown. the blessing of the Spanish crown She was appointed by the Crown. Verb The magazine crowned her the new queen of rock-and-roll music. She crowned her long and distinguished career by designing the city's beautiful new bridge.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Waxy, white blossoms up to 10 inches across crown its glossy, evergreen leaves. Steve Bender, Southern Living, 22 Mar. 2024 First baseman Christian Almanza is bidding for the triple crown, leading the WCC in batting (.394) and home runs (9) and third in RBIs (24). Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Mar. 2024 In one of the photos, Birdie posed in the classroom wearing her crown. Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2024 The Google Pixel Watch features a stunningly bright and responsive AMOLED display, alongside a sleek design that features an easy-to-use crown for accessing apps and settings. Kegan Mooney, PCMAG, 20 Mar. 2024 The dual crown indicates Ramses’ simultaneous authority over the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt, while the cobra represents royalty, writes the National’s Kamal Tabikha. Catherine Duncan, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Mar. 2024 These crowns were either placed in the grave or, later on, in churches. Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2024 O’Dowd in 2015 is the only NorCal boys team to win an Open crown. Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024 About two or three weeks after planting, new leaves will begin to emerge from the middle of the pineapple crown. Grace Haynes, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2024
Verb
By the time Srinivas was working toward his PhD in computer science at UC Berkeley, Pichai had been crowned chief executive of Google. Lauren Goode, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2024 Jeopardy! has crowned its newest Tournament of Champions winner! Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 20 Mar. 2024 Winning takes a mix of strategy and luck, and the one who masters both is crowned the Master Slayer. Deanna McCormack, Parents, 19 Mar. 2024 The player who remains still for the longest time throughout the game is crowned the winner and will receive a prize. Leo Barraclough, Variety, 14 Mar. 2024 Tems was crowned 2024’s Breakthrough artist, Victoria Monét was named Rising Star presented by Honda, and Young Miko took home the Impact Award presented by American Express. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 7 Mar. 2024 To date, Drag Race Down Under has crowned three winners: Kita Mean, Spankie Jackzon, and Isis Avis Loren. Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 11 Mar. 2024 After winning Olympic gold in Tokyo three years ago – the first Asian athlete to do so in the javelin – Chopra was crowned world champion in Budapest last year, becoming the first Indian to win a world title in a track and field event of any kind. George Ramsay, CNN, 11 Mar. 2024 Vote below for your favorite looks, and check back to see which celeb was crowned best-dressed of the night. Christian Allaire, Vogue, 11 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crown.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English coroune, croune, borrowed from Anglo-French corone, coroune, going back to Latin corōna "wreath, garland worn on the head as a mark of honor or emblem of majesty," borrowed from Greek korṓnē "crow, seabird (perhaps a shearwater), any of various curved or hooked objects (as a door handle or tip of a bow), kind of crown," perhaps formed from an original n-stem nominative *kor-ōn "crow, seabird," from a base *kor- — more at cornice

Note: Old English corona "crown," a weak noun borrowed directly from Latin, may have been replaced by the Anglo-French word if it was continued into Middle English at all. Ancient Greek korṓnē, though marginally attested in the meaning "crown, garland" (as something bent or curved?), is nonetheless presumed to be the source of the Latin word; aside from a gloss "kind of crown" (eîdos stephánou) by the lexicographer Hesychius, this sense is known only from a single fragment, of doubtful interpretation, by Sophron of Syracuse, a writer of mime. As both Sophron and the lyric poet Stesichorus, who used the derivative korōnís "garland," wrote in Doric, it is possible that the meaning "garland," whatever its origin, was peculiar to western dialects of Greek and hence transmitted to Latin.

Verb

Middle English corounen, crounen, borrowed from Anglo-French coroner, corouner, going back to Latin corōnare "to deck with garlands, wreath, encircle," derivative of corōna "wreathe, garland worn on the head as a mark of honor or emblem of majesty" — more at crown entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of crown was in the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near crown

Cite this Entry

“Crown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crown. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

crown

1 of 2 noun
1
a
: a wreath or band for the head especially as a mark of victory or honor
b
: the title representing a sports championship
the heavyweight crown
2
: a royal headdress
3
a
: the top of the head
b
: the highest part (as of a mountain or tree)
c
: the part of a hat covering the crown of the head
d
: the part of a tooth outside of the gum
4
: something resembling a crown
5
often capitalized
a
: royal power or authority
b
: the executive part of the British government
6
: any of various coins (as an old British coin worth five shillings)
crowned adjective
crownlike
ˈkrau̇n-ˌlīk
adjective

crown

2 of 2 verb
1
a
: to place a crown on
especially : to make sovereign
b
: to declare officially to be
was crowned champion
2
a
: top entry 2 sense 2
snow crowned the mountain's peak
b
: to top a checker with a checker to make a king
3
: to bring to a successful conclusion : finish off : complete
4
of a forest fire : to burn rapidly through the tops of trees

Medical Definition

crown

1 of 2 noun
1
: the topmost part of the skull or head
2
: the part of a tooth external to the gum or an artificial substitute for this

crown

2 of 2 transitive verb
: to put an artificial crown on (a tooth)

intransitive verb

in childbirth : to appear at the vaginal opening
used of the first part (as the crown of the head) of the infant to appear
an anesthetic was given when the head crowned

More from Merriam-Webster on crown

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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