crown

Etymology 1

From Middle English coroune, from Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Doublet of corona, koruna, krone, and krona. Displaced native Old English bēag. * (paper size): So called because originally watermarked with a crown.

noun

1. A royal, imperial or princely headdress; a diadem.
   Before so many of Europe's crowns came tumbling off the heads of their royal owners, Continental Europe could show a rich variety in the matter of royal trains. 1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, page 250
2. A wreath or band for the head, especially one given as reward of victory or a mark of honor.
3. (by extension) Any reward of victory or mark of honor.
   the martyr’s crown
4. Imperial or regal power, or those who wield it.
5. (metonymically) The sovereign (in a monarchy), as head of state.
6. (by extension, especially in law) The state, the government (headed by a monarch).
   Treasure recovered from shipwrecks automatically becomes property of the Crown.
7. A old slang term for the police (referring to crown victoria police cars)
8. The top part of something:
   1. The topmost part of the head.
   2. The highest part of a hill.
      So we continue climbing to the saddle of the Kleine Scheidegg, where ahead there comes into view the wide expanse of the Grindelwald valley, backed by the snowy crown of the Wetterhorn. 1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 752
   3. The top section of a hat, above the brim.
   4. The raised centre of a road.
   5. The highest part of an arch.
      The arch failed first at the crown, then at the quarterings, and finally at the springings. 1941 February, “Bridge demolition by lifting”, in Railway Magazine, page 74
   6. The upper range of facets in a rose diamond.
   7. The dome of a furnace.
   8. The upper part of certain fruits, as the pineapple or strawberry, that is removed before eating.
9. (architecture) A kind of spire or lantern formed by converging flying buttresses.
10. Splendor; culmination; acme.
11. Any currency (originally) issued by the crown (regal power) and often bearing a crown (headdress); (translation) various currencies known by similar names in their native languages, such as the koruna, kruna, krone, korona.
12. (historical) A former pre-decimalization British coin worth five shillings.
    Half-a-crown is known as an alderman, half a bull, half a tusheroon, and a madza caroon; whilst a crown piece, or five shillings, may be called either a bull, or a caroon, or a cartwheel, or a coachwheel, or a thick-un, or a tusheroon. 1859, J.C. Hotten, A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words
13. (historical, by extension) A coin or note worth five shillings in various countries that are or were in the British Commonwealth, such as Ireland or Jamaica.
    There is no difficulty getting married in Jamaica, is there? No, it only costs half a crown. 1866, Jamaica. Report of the Royal Jamaica Commission, 1866. Part II: Minutes of Evidence and Appendix, H.M.Stationery Office, page 558
    Maggie Murphy had some knickers that she bought in Bagenalstown, an interlock of knickers that she got for a half a crown. 2009, “Maggie Murphy's Knickers” (track 8), in Stay Wut Her Johnny, performed by Richie Kavanagh
14. (botany) The part of a plant where the root and stem meet.
15. (forestry) The top of a tree.
16. (anatomy, dentistry) The part of a tooth above the gums.
17. (dentistry) A prosthetic covering for a tooth.
18. (nautical) A knot formed in the end of a rope by tucking in the strands to prevent them from unravelling.
19. (nautical) The part of an anchor where the arms and the shank meet.
20. (nautical) The rounding, or rounded part, of the deck from a level line.
21. (paper) In England, a standard size of printing paper measuring 20 × 15 inches.
22. (paper) In American, a standard size of writing paper measuring 19 × 15 inches.
23. (chemistry) A monocyclic ligand having three or more binding sites, capable of holding a guest in a central location.
24. (medicine) During childbirth, the appearance of the baby's head from the mother's vagina.
25. (firearms) A rounding or smoothing of the barrel opening.
26. (geometry) The area enclosed between two concentric perimeters.
27. (religion) A round spot shaved clean on the top of the head, as a mark of the clerical state; the tonsure.
28. A whole bird with the legs and wings removed to produce a joint of white meat.
    When these TV chefs show you that they can cook a turkey crown in less than two hours; they aren't magicians or have secret turkey suppliers. The twenty minute per pound rule is based on our grandparents' ovens. 2012, Paul Treyvaud, The Hooker in the Lobby
29. (African-American Vernacular, colloquial) A formal hat worn by women to Sunday church services; a church crown.
    "His [Barack Obama's] unofficial slogan 'fired up and ready to go!' was borrowed from an 'old lady in a church crown [Sunday best hat]." 2013, Adam Boulton, Tony's Ten Years: Memories of the Blair Administration
30. The knurled knob or dial, on the outside of a watch case, used to wind it or adjust the hands.

adj

1. Of, related to, or pertaining to a crown.
   crown prince
2. Of, related to, pertaining to the top of a tree or trees.
   a crown fire

verb

1. To place a crown on the head of.
   The king of the Huns was crowned with steel, and rode a stallion red, Saying: “Proud must my father’s spirit feel of me who crowned my head […]” 2012, Poul Anderson (lyrics), performed by Leslie Fish, “The Ballad of Three Kings” in Avalon is Risen, originally published (in variant form) in Poul Anderson, “Three Kings”, Amra, volume 2, number 64 (1975)
2. To formally declare (someone) a king, queen, emperor, etc.
3. To bestow something upon as a mark of honour, dignity, or recompense; to adorn; to dignify.
4. To form the topmost or finishing part of; to complete; to consummate; to perfect.
   To crown the whole, came a proposition. 1856, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic
5. To declare (someone) a winner.
   New Zealand were crowned world champions for the first time in 24 years after squeezing past an inspired France team by a single point. October 23, 2011, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport
6. (medicine) Of a baby, during the birthing process; for the surface of the baby's head to appear in the vaginal opening.
   The mother was in the second stage of labor and the fetus had just crowned, prompting a round of encouragement from the midwives.
   You will see the baby's head crowning during contractions, at which time you must prepare to assist the mother in the delivery of the baby. 2007, David Schottke, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, First Responder: Your First Response in Emergency Care, page 385
   He's crowning . . . His head's coming through 2010, Scott Gallagher, Dancing Upon the Shore, page 157
7. (transitive) To cause to round upward; to make anything higher at the middle than at the edges, such as the face of a machine pulley.
8. To hit on the head.
   ‘[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”. We nearly crowned her we were so offended. She saw us but she didn't know us, did she?’. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess
9. (video games) To shoot an opponent in the back of the head with a shotgun in a first-person shooter video game.
10. (board games) In checkers, to stack two checkers to indicate that the piece has become a king.
    “Crown me!” I said, as I moved my checker to the back row.
11. (firearms) To widen the opening of the barrel.
12. (military) To effect a lodgment upon, as upon the crest of the glacis, or the summit of the breach.
13. (nautical) To lay the ends of the strands of (a knot) over and under each other.
14. (intransitive, slang) To be on the point of defecating.
    Where's the bathroom, I'm crowning here! 2020, Eddy Keymolen, amerikanischen Umgangssprache, page 148

Etymology 2

verb

1. (archaic) past participle of crow
   The cock had crown. 1823, Byron, Don Juan