crescent

adjsickle-shaped
nounsickle-shaped object

Synonyms for crescent

adj sickle-shaped

Word Origin & History

late 14c., "crescent-shaped ornament," from Anglo-French cressaunt, from Old French creissant "crescent of the moon" (12c., Modern French croissant), from Latin crescentum (nominative crescens), present participle of crescere "come forth, spring up, grow, thrive, swell, increase in numbers or strength," from PIE root *ker- "to grow" (cf. Latin Ceres, goddess of agriculture, creare "to bring forth, create, produce;" Greek kouros "boy," kore "girl;" Armenian serem "bring forth," serim "be born").

Applied in Latin to the waxing moon, luna crescens, but subsequently in Latin mistaken to refer to the shape, not the stage. The original Latin sense is preserved in crescendo. A badge or emblem of the Turkish sultans (probably chosen for its suggestion of "increase"); figurative sense of "Muslim political power" is from 1580s, but modern writers often falsely associate it with the Saracens of the Crusades or the Moors of Spain. Horns of the waxing moon are on the viewer's left side; those of the waning moon are on his right.

Example Sentences for crescent

Dare you to wear your brother's coat without the crescent which should stamp you as his cadet.

But was the "star and crescent" the symbol of the City of Constantine?

Diana had sped an arrow from her bow that is like the crescent moon.

The crescent moon and the stars filtered down a tinsel light.

There was one born in the sky, sir, the day I was christened with a Turkish crescent.

He had begun to justify himself to their crescent belief in him, the product of the years.

To defeat the Crescent was the highest ideal of that chivalric age.

There was a little silver moon—Diana's moon, the crescent of the huntress.

It looked like a crescent moon, and had been there ever since he could remember.

One looks up at the moon, at a time when only a crescent of it is visible.

crescent

Synonyms for crescent

growing

moon

rainbow

crescent

Synonyms for crescent

More words related to crescent

arc

growing

moon

rainbow