Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

culminate

/ˈkʌl.məˌneɪt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.74 in modern English

Syllables: cul-mi-nate
IPA: /ˈkʌl.məˌneɪt/

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

Of a heavenly body, to be at the highest point, reach its greatest altitude.

Intransitive verb

verb

To reach the (physical or figurative) summit, highest point, peak etc.

Intransitive verb

verb

To reach a climax; to come to a decisive point, especially an end or conclusion.

Intransitive verb

verb

To reach a point at which continued progress is not possible.

American usage

verb

To finalize, bring to a conclusion, form the climax of.

Transitive verb

adj

Relating to the culmen.

adj

Growing upward, as opposed to lateral growth.

Example Sentences

"The tower culminates in a point."
"As when his beams at noon / Culminate from the equator."
"The type of Cycads culminated in the Mesozoic"
"The house of Burgundy was rapidly culminating."
"This culminates in a timetable change in December 2020, at which point EMR will introduce a sixth train each hour out of St Pancras."
"Their messy breakup culminated in a restraining order."

Etymology

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.

Origin

Source language: Latin
First known use: First attested in 1647

Word Breakdown

Root: *kelH-, culmen, *kolamen, -

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈkʌl.məˌneɪt/
British English: /ˈkʌl.mɪ.neɪt/

Usage

Inflected Forms

culminates (present, singular) culminating (participle, present) culminated (participle, past) culminated (past)

Derived Forms

nonculminating preculminate

Frequently Paired Words

culm culminant culminating culmination

Synonyms

peak climax

Questions

How do you pronounce culminate?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkʌl.məˌneɪt/.
What does culminate mean?: Of a heavenly body, to be at the highest point, reach its greatest altitude.
Where does culminate come from?: It is traced to Latin. First known use: First attested in 1647.

How to pronounce culminate

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