culminate
English
Etymology
Recorded since 1647, from Medieval Latin culminatus, the past participle of culminare (“to crown”), from Latin culmen (“peak, the highest point”), older form columen (“top, summit”), from a Proto-Indo-European base *kol-, *kel- (“to project, rise; peak, summit, top”), whence also English hill and holm.
Pronunciation
Audio (UK) (file)
Verb
culminate (third-person singular simple present culminates, present participle culminating, simple past and past participle culminated)
- (intransitive, astronomy) Of a heavenly body, to be at the highest point, reach its greatest altitude.
- (intransitive, also figuratively) To reach the (physical) summit, highest point, peak etc.
- Synonym: peak
- Milton
- As when his beams at noon / Culminate from the equator.
- Dana
- The reptile race culminated in the secondary era.
- Motley
- The house of Burgundy was rapidly culminating.
- (intransitive, figuratively) To reach a climax; to come to the decisive point (especially as an end or conclusion).
- 2006 September 12, “President Bush’s Reality”, in New York Times:
- Mr. Bush has been marking the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 with a series of speeches about terrorism that culminated with his televised address last night.
- Their messy breakup culminated in a restraining order.
- The class will culminate with a rigorous examination.
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- (transitive) To finalize, bring to a conclusion, form the climax of.
- 2010, "By the skin of her teeth", The Economist, 7 Sep 2010:
- The announcement by Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott in Canberra culminated more than a fortnight of intensive political horse-trading.
- 2010, "By the skin of her teeth", The Economist, 7 Sep 2010:
Related terms
- culm
- culminant
- culmination
- culminating
- culminated
Translations
astronomy: to reach greatest altitude
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to reach the summit, highest point, peak (level) etc.
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to climax
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to finalize, form climax of
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Adjective
culminate (not comparable)
- (anatomy) Relating to the culmen
Further reading
- culminate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- culminate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Italian
Verb
culminate
- second-person plural present indicative of culminare
- second-person plural imperative of culminare