crest

Etymology

From Middle English creste, from Old French creste (modern French crête) and perhaps continuing Old English cræsta (“crest, tuft, plume”); both ultimately from Vulgar Latin *cresta, from Latin crista. Doublet of crista. The informal meaning “design, logo” (sense 11) stems from a misinterpretation of the heraldic sense 4, which specifically refers to the object placed on top of the helm.

noun

1. The summit of a hill or mountain ridge.
2. A tuft, or other natural ornament, growing on an animal's head, for example the comb of a cockerel, the swelling on the head of a snake, the lengthened feathers of the crown or nape of bird, etc.
3. The plume of feathers, or other decoration, worn on or displayed on a helmet; the distinctive ornament of a helmet.
4. (heraldry) A bearing worn, not upon the shield, but usually on a helmet above it, sometimes (as for clerics) separately above the shield or separately as a mark for plate, in letterheads, and the like.
5. The upper curve of a horse's neck.
6. The ridge or top of a wave.
7. The helm or head, as typical of a high spirit; pride; courage.
8. The ornamental finishing which surmounts the ridge of a roof, canopy, etc.
9. The top line of a slope or embankment.
10. (anatomy) A ridge along the surface of a bone.
11. (informal) A design or logo, especially one of an institution, sports club, association or high-class family.
    Hungry for fame and the approval of rare-animal collector Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton), Darwin deceives the Captain and his crew into believing they can get enough booty to win the pirate competition by entering Polly in a science fair. So the pirates journey to London in cheerful, blinkered defiance of the Queen, a hotheaded schemer whose royal crest reads simply “I hate pirates.” April 26, 2012, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits :”, in The Onion AV Club
12. Any of several birds in the family Regulidae, including the goldcrests and firecrests.

verb

1. (intransitive) Particularly with reference to waves, to reach a peak.
2. (transitive) To reach the crest of (a hill or mountain)
   the land rolls gently, so that, upon cresting a low rise or passing a copse of wind turbines, you suddenly spot a lot full of lorries or a complex of gigantic sheds. November 21 2019, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian
3. To furnish with, or surmount as, a crest; to serve as a crest for.
   groves of clouds that crest the mountain's brow 1815, William Wordsworth, Extracts from An Evening Walk
4. To mark with lines or streaks like waving plumes.