crown, cor on, corone, coroune, corune, corown, croune, crowne, crune

& a. [0. Fr. corone; Fr. couronne; Sp. & Ital. corona, from Lat. corona; Gr. korōnē the curved end of a bow; korōnis, korōnos curved. Cogn. with Gael. cruinn =round, circular; Wel. crwn ( Skeat.).] A. As substantive: I. Ordinary Language: 1. Literally: (1) A wreath or garland for the head, given as the reward of victory or of some noble deed. Among the Romans they were of several kinds: Cast rens is, or vallar is , given to the individual who first scaled the rampart in a aulting the camp of an enemy; mural is, to him who first mounted the breach in storming a town; naval is , to him who first boarded an enemy's ship; obsidional is, given by soldiers who had been beleaguered to the commander by whom they had been IMG:content-1419.png:[blocks in formation] relieved; and civic a (the most honorable of all), bestowed on him who had saved the life of a cit i zen. [CORONΑ.] (2) The ornament of the head, worn as a badge of sovereignty by emperors, kings, and princes. Those worn by the nobility are called coronets (q. v.). That worn by the Pope is more commonly called a tiara (q. v.). The monarchical practice of wearing crowns on state occasions is of considerable antiquity. Saul, the first king of Israel, did so (2 Sam. i. 10). So did the king of Ammon (2 Sam. xii. 30). Tarquinius Priscus, B. C. 616, is said to have been the first Roman sovereign who wore one. Const an tine, who began to reign in A. D. 306, wore a crown. From him, it is said, the several European kings, from the fourth to the eighth centuries, borrowed the practice. Egbert, king of Kent, who began to reign in A. D. 786, is represented on his coins as crowned. "In Queen Victoria's crown there are 1,363 brilliant diamonds, 1,273 rose diamonds, and 147 table diamonds, and 227 pearls." Weekly Review. besides one large ruby, 17 sapphires, four small rubies, *(3) A royal fillet or band for the brow (diadēma.) *(4) A crowned personage; a king, a prince. In his livery Walk'd crowns and crownets." Shakesp.: Ant. and Cleop., v. 2. (5) The sum of five shillings. so brown, 1203 "Be theirs, be theirs unfading honor's crown, The living amaranths of bright renown!" my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, " -Philip . iv. 1. (6) The top of anything; the highest part, as of- (a) A mountain, hill, ridge, . "Huge trunks of trees, fell'd from the steepy crown Of the bare mountains, roll with ruin down." IMG:content-1420.jpg:[blocks in formation] (4) Order of the Iron Crown: Her. & Hist.: An order instituted by Napoleon I., in 1805, to commemorate the fact that he had himself been crowned with the iron crown. It lapsed in 1814, but was renewed by the Emperor of Austria in 1816. B. As adj .: (See the compounds.) crown-agent, s. A public officer who acts as agent for the Crown of a monarchical country.