William Shakespeare
Did you know?
You probably know "crescent" as the shape of a moon that is less than half-illuminated. These days, "crescent" is generally used of either a waxing or waning moon, but that wasn't always the case. Originally, it referred only to the increasing illumination phase that immediately follows the new moon. That original meaning nicely reflects the meaning of the word's Latin ancestor crescere, which means "to grow." The meaning of "crescere" also shines through when we use "crescent" as an adjective meaning "increasing" or "growing." English speakers have been using "crescent" in this way since the 16th century.
Examples of crescent in a Sentence
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 19 Mar. 2024
Right before and just after totality, when only a slim crescent of the sun is visible, these small pearls of light shine through gaps in the moon’s rocky terrain.
—Catherine Duncan, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Mar. 2024
There are rhyming forms all over the canvas: triangles, crescents, spiky starbursts and tongues, stubby fingers and egg-like heads with open mouths.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024
Brush each crescent with egg so that the rolls turn an appetizing golden brown.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 22 Feb. 2024
The Curb Belt is a crescent running from the northern parts of Brentwood and Santa Monica up through the coastal canyons of the Pacific Palisades.
—Boris Kachka, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024
Russia is now on the offensive along the entire frontline, which stretches in a 600-mile-long crescent from the Russian border in northeastern Ukraine to the southern Dnipro River.
—Maria Varenikova, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Situated on a high point of land between the 9-hole Killiney Golf Club and the long crescent of rocky shoreline that is Killiney Bay Beach, a 2.8-acre estate known as Kenah Hill has come to market for just about $13 million.
—Mark David, Robb Report, 2 Mar. 2024
Wrap the links with crescent dough, sprinkle with a mixture of seeds, and bake.
—Patricia S York, Southern Living, 30 Jan. 2024
John Timmer, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2023
Miley's left arm features a few small permanent drawings, including a crescent moon and tributes to her pets, Pablow (her deceased fish) and Emu (her sheepdog).
—Yerin Kim, Seventeen, 20 Jan. 2023
The Perseids range from July 17–August 24, and have to compete only with a crescent moon.
—Manasee Wagh, Popular Mechanics, 18 Jan. 2023
The statue depicts actor Elizabeth Montgomery – as lead character Samantha Stephens in the 1960s sitcom – sitting on a broomstick in front of a crescent moon.
—From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 23 Sep. 2022
On the reverse is a crescent moon plus a starlike sun.
—Richard Jakiel, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2019
In a watercolor done in 1790, it has been fashioned into crescent shapes that resemble a pair of rams’ horns that meet in a bulbous clump in the center of her brow.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2023
Along the great crescent sweep of the river, smoke billowed from the pyres that burn night and day.
—Roger Cohen Mauricio Lima, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2022
Line bottom of pan with one package of crescent dinner rolls.
—al, 20 Dec. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crescent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
Latinization of Middle English cressant, cressaunt, borrowed from Anglo-French, noun derivative from present participle of creistre "to increase, grow," going back to Latin crēscere "to come into existence, increase in size or numbers," perhaps going back to Indo-European *kreh1- "become stronger, increase," whence also Slavic *krějǫ, *krějati (whence Old Czech křáti, kříti "to recover, regain strength," Russian dialect krejátʼ "to convalesce, get well," Ukrainian krijáty "to regain strength," Bulgarian kréja "weaken, wither"—sense perhaps by loss of an earlier privative prefix)
Note: Latin crēscere and creāre (see create entry 1) have traditionally been linked to Indo-European *ḱerh3- "feed, satisfy" (see ceres), but this has recently been questioned on both morphological and semantic grounds. Cf. Michiel de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages, Leiden, 2008; Oleg Trubačev, Ètimologičeskij slovarʼ slavjanskix jazykov: praslavjanskij leksičeskij fond, Vypusk 12 (Moscow, 1985), pp. 130-31; and in particular Eugen Hill, "Lateinisch crēscō 'wachsen' etymologisch: urslavisch *krějǫ 'genesen', litauisch šeriù 'füttern' oder armenisch serem 'erzeugen'?", International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction, vol. 3 (2006), pp. 187-209, where the issues are thoroughly discussed.
Adjective
borrowed from Latin crēscent-, crescēns, present participle of crēscere "to come into existence, increase in size or numbers" — more at crescent entry 1
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Adjective
1574, in the meaning defined above
Podcast
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!
Dictionary Entries Near crescent
Cite this Entry
“Crescent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crescent. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
crescent
noun
Medical Definition
crescent
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on crescent
Nglish: Translation of crescent for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of crescent for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about crescent
Share