crescent
/ˈkɹɛs.ənt/noun, adjective, verb
crescent is spelled C-R-E-S-C-E-N-T. The wrong spelling people search most is cresent: about 900 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Crescent is a noun meaning “The figure of the moon as it appears between its first or last quarter and the new moon, with concave and…”. The plural of crescent is crescents.
How many letters and syllables are in crescent?
| Letters | 8: C-R-E-S-C-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.7 times per million words; the 13,496th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, cresent, about 900 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell crescent?
Crescent is spelled C-R-E-S-C-E-N-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for crescent in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is crescent?
Crescent appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce crescent?
- UK /ˈkɹɛz.ənt/
- UK /ˈkɹɛs.ənt/
- US /ˈkɹɛs.ənt/
Crescent has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-crescent.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with crescent?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as crescent from its last stressed vowel (/ɛsənt/):
- fluorescent
- depressant
- effervescent
- evanescent
- obsolescent
- florescent
- pearlescent
- coalescent
- tumescent
- arborescent
- intumescent
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of crescent
- crescents plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cres.
- crescenting participle, present
- crescented participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crescent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The figure of the moon as it appears between its first or last quarter and the new moon, with concave and convex edges terminating in points.
- 2
A curved pastry.
- 3
A curved street, often presenting a continuous façade, as of row houses.
- 4
A representation of a crescent, used as a symbol of Islam.
The Turkish flag features a white star and crescent on red base.
- 5
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.
- 6
A crescent spanner.
- 7
Any of three orders of knighthood conferred upon foreigners to whom Turkey might be indebted for valuable services.
- 8
A crescentspot butterfly.
adjective
- 1
datedrareMarked by an increase; waxing, like the moon.
- 2
Shaped like a crescent.
verb
- 1
To form a crescent shape.
- 2
To decorate with crescents.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate crescent?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of crescent: Cres, cres..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crescent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | medialuna , creciente , lunado |
| French | croissant |
| German | Mondsichel , Hörnchen, Croissant, (Unterfranken) Kipfel, (Unterfranken) Kipfl , Halbmond |
| Portuguese | crescente , croissant |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does crescent come from?
From Middle English cressaunt, from Anglo-Norman cressaunt and 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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).