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crown

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "crown", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "crown" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "crown" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

crown is aEnglishnoun. It means: A royal, imperial or princely headdress; a diadem. Pronounced /kɹaʊn/. It ranks #2,665 in English word frequency. Often confused with crows and crowns.

Key facts for crown
PropertyValue
Headwordcrown
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɹaʊn/
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,665
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of crown in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for crown is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kɹaʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,665 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 37 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for crown, with forms such as "ccrown", "corwn", and "cronw". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "crows", "crowns", "crowned", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English coroune, from Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Doublet of corona, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone. Displaced native Old English corenbēag (“crown”); and Middle English … Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is crown, spelled C-R-O-W-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A royal, imperial or princely headdress; a diadem.
  2. 2
    A wreath or band for the head, especially one given as reward of victory or a mark of honor.
  3. 3
    Any reward of victory or mark of honor.
  4. 4
    Imperial or regal power, or those who wield it.
  5. 5
    The sovereign (in a monarchy), as head of state.
  6. 6
    The state, the government (headed by a monarch).
  7. 7
    The police (referring to Crown Victoria police cars).
  8. 8
    The top part of something:
  9. 9
    The top part of something:
  10. 10
    The top part of something:
  11. 11
    The top part of something:
  12. 12
    The top part of something:
  13. 13
    The top part of something:
  14. 14
    The top part of something:
  15. 15
    The top part of something:
  16. 16
    The top part of something:
  17. 17
    The top part of something:
  18. 18
    The top part of something:
  19. 19
    A kind of spire or lantern formed by converging flying buttresses.
  20. 20
    Splendor; culmination; acme.
  21. 21
    Any currency (originally) issued by the crown (regal power) and often bearing a crown (headdress); (translation) various currencies known by similar names in their native languages, such as the korona, koruna, krona, króna, krone.
  22. 22
    A former predecimalization British coin worth five shillings.
  23. 23
    A coin or note worth five shillings in various countries that are or were in the British Commonwealth, such as Ireland or Jamaica.
  24. 24
    The part of a plant where the root and stem meet.
  25. 25
    The part of a tooth above the gums.
  26. 26
    A prosthetic covering for a tooth.
  27. 27
    A knot formed in the end of a rope by tucking in the strands to prevent them from unravelling.
  28. 28
    The part of an anchor where the arms and the shank meet.
  29. 29
    The rounding, or rounded part, of the deck from a level line.
  30. 30
    A standard size of printing paper measuring 20 × 15 inches.
  31. 31
    A standard size of writing paper measuring 19 × 15 inches.
  32. 32
    A monocyclic ligand having three or more binding sites, capable of holding a guest in a central location.
  33. 33
    A rounding or smoothing of the barrel opening.
  34. 34
    The area enclosed between two concentric perimeters.
  35. 35
    A whole bird with the legs and wings removed to produce a joint of white meat.
  36. 36
    A formal hat worn by women to Sunday church services; a church crown.
  37. 37
    The knurled knob or dial, on the outside of a watch case, used to wind it or adjust the hands.

Etymology

From Middle English coroune, from Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Doublet of corona, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone. Displaced native Old English corenbēag (“crown”); and Middle English kinehelm, kynehelm, from Old English cynehelm (“crown”). * (paper size): So called because originally watermarked with a crown.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccrown,corwn,cronw,crownn,crowwn,crrown,crwon,rcown

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for crown

Misspelling Variants of "crown"

ccrown6corwn5cronw5crownn6crowwn6crrown6crwon5rcown5
Misspelling Variants of "crown"

Frequency rank: #2,665 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "crown"?
"crown" is spelled C-R-O-W-N. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹaʊn/.
What does "crown" mean?
As a noun, "crown" means: A royal, imperial or princely headdress; a diadem.
What words are commonly confused with "crown"?
"crown" is commonly confused with "crows", "crowns", "crowned". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "crown"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crown" is /kɹaʊn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "crown"?
From Middle English coroune, from Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Doublet of corona, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone. Displaced native Old English corenbēag (“crown”); and Middl... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.