Etymologically
Log in

coronation

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 13:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /kɒɹəˈneɪʃn̩/[1]
  • US: /ˌkɔɹəˈneɪʃ(ə)n/, /ˌkɑ-/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English coronacioun,[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French coronacion,[6][7][8][9][10] and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin corōnātiō (“a crowning”).[4][9][11][12] Etymonline and Barnhart call the Latin source Late Latin,[2][3] and the Anglo-Norman noun coronacion is recorded from 1363–64.[13] The Latin noun is from corōnō (“to crown, wreathe”), from corōna (“crown, wreath, garland”),[2][3][4] which the AHD and Klein take from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, “anything curved; a kind of crown”), from κορωνός (korōnós, “curved”);[4][7] Watkins traces it to Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“to turn, bend”),[2][4] while Etymonline cites Beekes for deriving the "crown" sense from the Greek word for "crow", used of curved and hooked objects.[2] In the 16th and 17th centuries the English word was refashioned as crownation.[6][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act or ceremony of crowning a sovereign: 1388, in the prologue to 2 Samuel in the later version of the Wycliffite Bible.[6] Etymonline and Barnhart date it to about 1400,[2][3] and the MED's first quotation, about 1400, speaks of the coronation of King Henry.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it was also used of the crowning of the Virgin Mary and of the crown of thorns placed on Christ's head.[5] Transferred uses, such as crowning a piece at draughts, are recorded from about 1426.[6] From 1582 the word could mean figuratively the crowning or completion of a work.[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "the act or solemnity of crowning a king", quoting Hamlet: "To shew my duty in your coronation".[14] Collins records an informal modern use for appointing someone to a post of authority without considering other candidates.[15]

Timeline

  • 1388 – the ceremony of crowning a sovereign.[6]
  • c. 1400 – the coronation of King Henry, in the Brut.[5]
  • c. 1426 – transferred and figurative uses.[6]
  • 1582 – figuratively, the crowning or completion of a work.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The ceremony of crowning a monarch or a monarch's consort.[15][10][6]
  2. The ceremonial installation of a person chosen for a leading role, as at a festival.[10]
  3. (informal) The appointment of a person to a position of authority without seeking or considering other candidates.[15]
  4. (figurative) The crowning or completion of something.[6][12]

Word family

  • recoronation
  • precoronation

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  15. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins