culminate

== English == === Etymology 1 === First attested in 1647; borrowed from Medieval Latin culminātus, perfect passive participle of culminō (“to crown”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin culmen (“peak, highest point”, oblique stem culmin-) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), older form columen (“top, summit”), from Proto-Italic *kolamen, from a Proto-Indo-European base *kol-, *kelH- (“to project, rise; peak, summit, top”), whence also English hill and holm. ==== Pronunciation ==== (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkʌl.mɪ.neɪt/ (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈkʌl.məˌneɪt/ (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈkal.mɪ.næɪt/ ==== 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) To reach the (physical or figurative) summit, highest point, peak etc. Synonym: peak (intransitive, figuratively) To reach a climax; to come to a decisive point, especially an end or conclusion. (US, military, of an offensive, etc) To reach a point at which continued progress is not possible. (transitive) To finalize, bring to a conclusion, form the climax of. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === First attested in 1846; by surface analysis, Latin culmen (oblique stem culmin-) +‎ -ate (adjective-forming suffix), see Etymology 1. ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): (UK) /ˈkʌlmɪnət/, (US) /ˈkəlmənət/ ==== Adjective ==== culminate (not comparable) (anatomy) Relating to the culmen. (biology) Growing upward, as opposed to lateral growth. ===== Derived terms ===== === Further reading === “culminate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “culminate”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. == Italian == === Verb === culminate inflection of culminare: second-person plural present indicative second-person plural imperative == Spanish == === Verb === culminate second-person singular voseo imperative of culminar combined with te