crown

1 of 2

noun

ˈkrau̇n 

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

: monarch

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

ˈkrau̇nd 

adjective

crownless

ˈkrau̇n-ləs 

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

Synonyms

Noun

• chaplet
• coronal
• coronel
• coronet
• diadem

Verb

• cap (off)
• climax
• culminate

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

On Sunday, with their first Bundesliga crown just seven minutes away, their patience finally ran out. —Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024

The pair were neck-and-neck throughout the final few miles, only for Obiri to sneak ahead and retain her crown by a narrow margin of eight seconds after finishing with a time of 2:22:37. —Ben Morse, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024

And who could forget the ubiquitous flower crown atop brides in the early aughts? —Shelby Wax, Vogue, 12 Apr. 2024

Through the ups and downs of her collegiate career, Reese has remained focused, with her famed crown affixed firmly to her head – literally and figuratively. —Rivea Ruff, Essence, 12 Apr. 2024

The watch is made entirely of titanium, including case, bracelet, bezel and crown, which makes the watch lightweight despite the size (42.5 mm x 10.39 mm). —Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2024

Followers young and old clutch firearms—typically the AR-15—during services, while Sean has taken to wearing a crown of bullets. —TIME, 4 Apr. 2024

Collins wins Miami Open; Sinner seeks men’s crown on Easter: The American winning the Miami Open was supposed to be Coco Gauff, based on seeding. —Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 31 Mar. 2024

Republican Roscoe Bartlett bowed before Moon and Hak Jan Han, while Democrat Danny Davis brought forth a pillow bearing a golden crown for his head. —TIME, 4 Apr. 2024

Verb

However, whoever is crowned will have to go to through a verification process, displaying an authentic birth certificate where the record keepers will validate their birth. —USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024

Since taking its first flight in 2014, the Latitude has been crowned the best-selling midsize business jet, with 369 examples in operation. —Daniel Cote, Robb Report, 27 Mar. 2024

This May, the greatest reality TV star of all time will be crowned! —Sabienna Bowman, Peoplemag, 26 Mar. 2024

The decision by Ohio voters on Tuesday to nominate Bernie Moreno to take on Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, is the capstone of a year that has crowned nominees — or anointed clear front-runners — with remarkable wealth in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Montana and now Ohio. —Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024

Also read:Detroit singer Jasmine Terrell crowned Motown 'Amplify' champion at Music Hall finale A hometown reception is planned for April in Detroit, said Reeves’ manager, Chris Roe, with a date and location to be announced soon. —Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press, 21 Mar. 2024

March Madness — the National Collegiate Athletics Association's (NCAA) college basketball tournament — kicked off this week, and Americans are betting big money on which school will be crowned champions for 2024. —Khristopher J. Brooks, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2024

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

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

Phrases Containing crown

• crown court
• crown gall
• crown jewel
• crown land
• crown molding
• crown rust
• crown roast
• crown prince
• the crown
• to crown it all
• jewel in the crown
• half crown
• crown vetch
• crown colony
• crown glass
• crown of thorns
• crown princess

Kids Definition

crown

1 of 2 noun

ˈkrau̇n 

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

ˈkrau̇nd 

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

ˈkrau̇n 

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