Skip to main content
to crown

to crown

62 5.1
To put a special decorated hat on someone's head in a formal ceremony to make them king or queen
  • verb
  • /kraʊn/
  • Formal
translation icon : coronar
  • At the ceremony, they will crown the new queen with a beautiful golden tiara.
  • be crowned king
  • crown a new emperor
  • crown the head

But when I'm in this chair, I have to crown a winner, and I do have a winner.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The Teen Choice Awards crowned him Choice Comedian in 2008.

    Academic text (2009)
  • We have one more contestant, and then we'll be crowning our winner.

  • And this year, we're going to crown the Queen of the cream.

  • The day after tomorrow, we will crown the May Queen.

  • With that, it's time to crown our champion.

  • Bring me the others, and I'll crown you king.

  • And now he stands to be crowned king.

  • The winner is then crowned by the governor of Kentucky.

    Academic text (2005)
  • They were just about to crown king and queen!

  • Helen: I crown thee, Bruno, Queen of the Bees.

Synonyms

to coronate
vsto crown
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To put a crown on someone's head to make them king or queen

is identical in meaning but is the common everyday word
to enthrone
vsto crown
  • Formal
7.5

To give someone a high position of power in a formal ceremony, like making them a king or queen

focuses on placing a royal headpiece and declaring monarchy
to diadem
vsto crown
  • Archaic
9.5

To put a headband with jewels on someone to show they are a ruler

uses formal ceremony to declare someone monarch rather than honor only
to throne
vsto crown
7.9

To make someone a ruler by a ceremony

emphasizes seating the ruler rather than placing a royal headpiece

Idioms

2 4.9

The most valuable or important part of a group

Compounds

28 3.4

A man who is expected to be the next king

13 5.7

A title given to a horse that wins the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in the same year

9 4.7

The most valuable part of a business, like a product or division

3 5.6

Jewellery and ornaments worn by a king or queen on special state occasions

triple crown
  • Jargon
2 6.7

In baseball, a player who leads the league in batting average, runs batted in, and home runs in one season

1 5.7

A very valuable jewel that a king or queen keeps for ceremonies

1 9.5

A ring of thorn branches put on Jesus' head to mock and hurt him before his death on the cross

1 3.9

A person who people expect to become the next leader of a group or organization

British Crown
  • Formal
1 6.1

The power of the British king or queen that the government uses

1 5.0

The most valuable things a company or group owns that must be protected

1 7.5

Land that the state or ruler owns and manages for public use

Crown Colony
  • Archaic
1 8.2

A place ruled directly by the British king or queen, usually through a governor they choose

crown fire
  • Specialized
1 8.2

A fast forest fire that moves through the tops of trees, often moving ahead of the fire on the ground

A female royal who is next in line to the throne or the crown prince's wife

1 5.5

A round cooked meat made from lamb ribs arranged like a crown

half crown
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A former British coin worth two shillings and sixpence

A senior lawyer appointed to advise the British monarch about law

9.9

A plant with groups of white or yellow flowers

A leafy plant with yellow flowers used in cooking

crown gall
  • Specialized
8.4

A bacterial disease that makes lumps at the base of a plant stem

crown glass
  • Specialized
9.0

A type of glass lens makers use that bends light little and keeps colours from separating

crown glass
  • Archaic
9.7

Old window glass you get by blowing hot glass into a round disk and spinning it flat

A tall plant with a ring of leaves at the top of its stem and bright bell-shaped orange flowers

crown-of-the-field
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant with large reddish-purple trumpet-shaped flowers and poisonous seeds that grows in fields and roadsides

crown lens
  • Specialized
7.3

A lens made from a kind of clear glass that gives sharp images with little color blur

crown monkey
  • Indian
9.9

A monkey from India with a small crown of hair on its head

A spiny plant with long stems and bright red flowers

crown of thorns
  • Literature
8.9

A constant source of pain that you must bear

crown saw
  • Specialized
8.4

A saw that cuts large round holes with a hollow tube that has teeth

crown vetch
  • Specialized
7.9

A plant with pink and white flowers that spreads to cover soil and prevent erosion

crown wart
  • Specialized
9.9

A fungal disease of alfalfa that causes white growths at the base of the stem

crown-beard
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant with clusters of yellow or white flowers

An annual plant with yellow flowers that grows in dry parts of the southwestern United States and Mexico

jacket crown
  • Archaic
8.6

A hard cap placed over a broken or decayed tooth to make it look and work like a real tooth

Nero's crown
  • Indian
9.9

A tropical shrub with shiny leaves and fragrant flowers that open at night

optical crown
  • Specialized
9.2

A clear glass used in lenses that bends light only a little

optical crown glass
  • Specialized
7.4

Clear glass used in camera lenses that bends light less and keeps colours from separating

A pair of gears in a car that turn motion at a right angle

7.6

A baseball season when a player leads the league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in

How Ceremonial

to enthrone
  • Formal
7.5
to crown
  • Formal
62 5.1
to install
  • Formal
69 3.9
to appoint
  • Formal
580 3.2
to choose
1.0

Surface Forms

crown infinitive
crowned past
crowned past participle
crowning present participle
crowns third person singular

Etymology

Crown as a verb comes from the noun crown, from corona 'garland', and it originally meant to put a head ornament on someone. So to crown a ruler is to make them king or queen by placing the crown on their head.