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Glite Dictionary
🏆 To reach the peak 🏔️ To form a top 🌞 To reach highest point
to culminate

to culminate

7.9
Reach the highest point in the sky above a place
  • verb
  • /ˈkʌlmɪneɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : culminar
  • The comet is expected to culminate in visibility during the early hours of the morning.

Examples

  • Written explanations also serve as a way to culminate the investigation.

    Academic text (1992)

  • It culminates when the hooded figure is revealed as Luke Skywalker, aged but quick and noble with a lightsaber.

    Blog text (18)

  • If I see entire constellations culminating above the CitiGroup Building or just above Times Square, and the obnoxious light cones from the usual suspects radiate dimly and sharply up the sky, then I judge the sky to be very, very good.

    Blog text (28)

  • The sun will culminate at its highest point in the sky around noon.

  • As the evening progresses, the stars begin to culminate in the clear night sky.

Synonyms

to climax
vsto culminate
10 4.8

To reach the most intense point in a process or event

refers to a celestial body reaching its highest point in the sky or meridian

Antonyms

to descend
150 2.7

Move from a higher to a lower place

set
11 7.9

The time when the sun or moon moves below the horizon

Phrasal Verbs

to culminate in
31 6.1

Reach a final high point that ends with a specific result

Surface Forms

culminate infinitive
culminated past
culminated past participle
culminating present participle
culminates third person singular

Morphology

culminate = culmination (transparent) = culmin + ate

This astronomical sense ('reach the highest point') aligns closely with the noun 'culmination', so learners can infer the verb meaning.

Etymology

Culminate comes from the Latin culmen meaning 'summit' or 'top', so imagine the sun or a star moving up until it reaches its highest point in the sky. So, when an object in the sky is directly overhead, astronomers say it culminates.