Word.ws English Dictionary

crowning

/ˈkɹaʊnɪŋ/

crowning is the present participle and gerund of crown.

Adjective

crowning (comparative more crowning, superlative most crowning)

  1. Supreme; of a surpassing quality or quantity.
    • It seems that now [the Devil] was driving Alison hard. She had been remiss of late — fewer souls sent to hell, less zeal in quenching the Spirit, and, above all, the crowning offense that her bairn had communicated in Christ's kirk.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
    • Friday night’s crowning victory at The Hawthorns was the 25th in 30 league matches since Antonio Conte’s decisive re-gearing of his team in September, the tactical switches that have coaxed such a thrilling run from this team of bolt-ons and upcycled squad players, most notably Victor Moses, who...2017 May 13, Barney Ronay, “Antonio Conte’s brilliance has turned Chelsea’s pop-up team into champions”, in the Guardian
  2. Located on the top or summit.

Noun

crowning (plural crownings)

  1. A coronation.
    • The crownings of the two successive monarchs were only a year apart.
  2. The act of one who crowns (in various senses).
    • There were outflankings and crownings of hills by numbers of thirteen and seventeen men, that made one hold one's breath.1860, Fraser's Magazine, volume 61, page 711
  3. The stage of vaginal childbirth when the infant's head remains consistently visible at the vulva.
    • When your baby’s head remains visible without slipping back in, it is known as crowning.2012 April, Baby Crowning, American Pregnancy Association

Meaning of crown

Verb

crown (third-person singular simple present crowns, present participle crowning, simple past and past participle crowned)

  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...
    Synonyms:
    coronate
  2. To formally declare (someone) a king, queen, emperor, etc.
    • Her, vvho faireſt does appear, / Crovvn her Queen of all the year.1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act I...
    Synonyms:
    coronate, enthrone
  3. To bestow something upon as a mark of honour, dignity, or recompense; to adorn; to dignify.
    • Thou […] hast crowned him with glory and honour.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 8:5
  4. To form the topmost or finishing part of; to complete; to consummate; to perfect.
    • the grove that crowns yon tufted hill1812, Lord Byron, “Canto II”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC...
  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.2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport
  6. To have its head's surface appear in the vaginal opening during the birthing process.
    • The mother was in the second stage of labor and the fetus had just crowned, prompting a round of encouragement from the midwives.

See all 59 meanings of crown

Forms of crowning

Adjective
comparativemore crowning
superlativemost crowning
Noun
pluralcrownings

Origin of crowning

From Middle English crowninge, crounende, equivalent to crown + -ing.

From Middle English crouninge, crounynge, coroning, coronyng, equivalent to crown + -ing.

Words formed from crowning

Phrases with crowning

Words that rhyme with crowning

Questions about crowning

What does crowning mean?
Crowning means supreme; of a surpassing quality or quantity.
What is crowning the present participle and gerund of?
Crowning is the present participle and gerund of crown.
What part of speech is crowning?
Crowning can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce crowning?
Crowning is pronounced /ˈkɹaʊnɪŋ/.

Words near crowning in the dictionary

  1. crowneth
  2. crownets
  3. crowngall
  4. crowngrass
  5. crowngrasses
  6. crowning
  7. crowning achievement
  8. crowning achievements
  9. crowning glory
  10. crowning it all
  11. crowningly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: crowning (page history and authors); crown (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-crowning.wav.

Cite this entry: “crowning.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/crowning. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.