crescent

Etymology

From Middle English cressaunt, from Anglo-Norman cressaunt and Old French creissant (“crescent of the moon”) (French croissant), from Latin crēscēns, present active participle of crēscō (“arise, thrive”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁- (“to grow”). See Old Armenian սերիմ (serim, “be born”) and սերեմ (serem, “bring forth”), Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē, “girl”) and κούρος (koúros, “boy”), Latin creāre (“produce, create, bring forth”) and Ceres (“goddess of agriculture”). Doublet of croissant. The pronunciation with /z/ is a comparatively recent innovation due to the influence of words such as pheasant and present.

noun

1. The figure of the moon as it appears between its first or last quarter and the new moon, with concave and convex edges terminating in points.
2. Something shaped like a crescent, especially:
   1. A curved pastry.
   2. A curved street, often presenting a continuous façade, as of row houses.
   3. (Islam) A representation of a crescent, used as a symbol of Islam.
      The Turkish flag features a white star and crescent on red base.
   4. (heraldry) The emblem of the waxing moon with horns directed upward, when used in a coat of arms; often used as a mark of cadency to distinguish a second son and his descendants.
3. (New Zealand) A crescent spanner.
4. (historical) Any of three orders of knighthood conferred upon foreigners to whom Turkey might be indebted for valuable services.
   Sebastiani receives publicly the Sultan's thanks, and is decorated with the Order of the Crescent 1880, Elizabeth Stone, Sebastiani receives publicly the Sultan's thanks, and is decorated with the Order of the Crescent
5. A crescentspot butterfly.

adj

1. (dated, rare) marked by an increase; waxing, like the Moon.
   crescent problems which have to be faced by a large part of humanity 1928, Edward A. Ross, World Drift, New York, London: The Century Co., page v
2. Shaped like a crescent.

verb

1. (transitive) To form a crescent shape
   A dark wood crescents more than half the lawn 1809, Anna Seward, “Letter VI. 195”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)
2. (transitive) To decorate with crescents.