culmination

culmination

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French culmination, from culminer, or from Medieval Latin culminatus + -tion.Morphologically culminate +‎ -ion

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌkʌl.məˈneɪ.ʃən/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌkʌl.mɪnˈeɪ.ʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

culmination (countable and uncountable, plural culminations)

1. (astronomy) The attainment of the highest point of altitude reached by a heavenly body; passage across the meridian; transit.
2. Attainment or arrival at the highest pitch of glory, power, etc.
3. (US) A ceremony marking the completion of studies at an elementary school, middle school or junior high school, the term "graduation" being reserved for high school.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:apex

Derived terms

• culmination tunnel

Related terms

• culminate

Translations

astronomy: attainment of the highest point

Armenian: բարձրակետ (hy) (barjraket), գագաթնակետ (hy) (gagatʿnaket) Bulgarian: зенит (bg) m (zenit) Finnish: kulminaatio German: Gipfelpunkt (de) m Greek: μεσημβρινή διάβαση (mesimvriní diávasi) Persian: گذر‎ (fa) (gozar), تکبد‎ (takabbod) Polish: kulminacja (pl) f Russian: кульмина́ция (ru) f (kulʹminácija) Turkish: doruk (tr), zirve (tr) Ukrainian: кульміна́ція (uk) f (kulʹminácija)

arrival of the highest pitch of glory

Bulgarian: кулминация (bg) f (kulminacija) Finnish: huippu (fi), huipentuma (fi), huippuhetki German: Höhepunkt (de) m Polish: kulminacja (pl) f Russian: кульмина́ция (ru) f (kulʹminácija), зени́т (ru) m (zenít) Turkish: bitiş (tr), nihayet (tr) (obsolescent), sonuçlanma (tr)

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French

Noun

culmination f (plural culminations)

1. culmination

Further reading

• “culmination”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.