crown

A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, particularly in Commonwealth countries, as an abstract name for the monarchy itself, as distinct from the individual who inhabits it (see The Crown). A specific type of crown (or coronet for lower ranks of peerage) is employed in heraldry under strict rules. Indeed, some monarchies never had a physical crown, just a heraldic representation, as in the constitutional kingdom of Belgium, where no coronation ever took place; the royal installation is done by a solemn oath in parliament, wearing a military uniform: the King is not acknowledged as by divine right, but assumes the only hereditary public office in the service of the law; so he in turn will swear in all members of "his" federal government.

Three distinct categories of crowns exist in those monarchies that use crowns or state regalia.

• Coronation: worn by monarchs when being crowned.
• State: worn by monarchs on other state occasions.
• Consort crowns: worn by a consort, signifying rank granted as a constitutional courtesy protocol.

Crowns or similar headgear, as worn by nobility and other high-ranking people below the ruler, is in English often called a coronet; However, in many languages, this distinction is not made and the same word is used for both types of headgear (e.g., French couronne, German Krone, Dutch kroon). In some of these languages the term "rank crown" (rangkroon, etc.) refers to the way these crowns may be ranked according to hierarchical status.

In Classical antiquity, the crown (corona) that was sometimes awarded to people other than rulers, such as triumphal military generals or athletes, was actually a wreath or chaplet, or ribbon-like diadem.

tiara [Language: Latin; Origin: 'hat worn by Persian kings', from Greek]

六级/考研单词: dignity, seldom, sovereign, endorse, commonwealth, abstract, inhabit, rank, peer, herald, strict, physics, constitution, install, solemn, parliament, militant, divine, signify, courtesy, protocol, noble, accord, hierarchy, classic, triumph, athlete