crescent
Contents
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- (curved street): cres. (abbreviation)
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Anglo-Norman cressaunt, from Old French creissant (“crescent of the moon”) (French croissant), from Latin crēscēns, present active participle of crēscō (“arise, thrive”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁- (“to grow”). See Old Armenian սերիմ (serim, “be born”) and սերեմ (serem, “bring forth”), Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē, “girl”) and κούρος (koúros, “boy”), Latin creare (“produce, create, bring forth”) and Ceres (“goddess of agriculture”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
crescent (plural crescents)
- The figure of the moon as it appears in its first or last quarter, with concave and convex edges terminating in points.
- Something shaped like a crescent, especially:
- A curved pastry.
- A curved street, often presenting a continuous façade, as of row houses.
- (Islam) A representation of the symbol used by Islamic caliphates (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (New Zealand) A crescent spanner.
- (historical) Any of three orders of knighthood conferred upon foreigners to whom Turkey might be indebted for valuable services.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Brande & C to this entry?)
- (heraldry) The emblem of the waxing Moon with horns directed upward, when used in a coat of arms; often used as a mark of cadency to distinguish a second son and his descendants.
- A crescentspot butterfly.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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AdjectiveEdit
crescent (not comparable)
- (dated, rare) marked by an increase; waxing, like the Moon.
- Tennyson
- O, I see the crescent promise of my spirit hath not set.
- 1928, Edward A. Ross, World Drift, New York; London: The Century Co., page v:
- crescent problems which have to be faced by a large part of humanity
- Tennyson
- Shaped like a crescent.
- Milton
- Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns.
- Milton
TranslationsEdit
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VerbEdit
crescent (third-person singular simple present crescents, present participle crescenting, simple past and past participle crescented)
- (transitive) To form into a crescent, or something resembling a crescent.
- 1809, Anna Seward, “Letter VI. 195”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
- A dark wood crescents more than half the lawn
- (transitive) To adorn with crescents.
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for crescent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)