What does coronating mean?
Coronating is the present participle of the verb 'coronate', meaning to place a crown on someone's head, typically as the central act of a formal ceremony marking their accession as monarch. The word derives from the Latin corona, meaning crown or garland, the same root behind corona, coronation, and coronet. In its literal sense, coronating belongs to elevated, ceremonial language describing royal rites, such as the enthronement of kings and queens. It also has an established figurative use: to be said of critics, fans, or commentators who prematurely declare someone the best in their field, as when sports writers are accused of coronating a young athlete a champion before any titles are won. Because the simpler verb 'to crown' and the noun 'coronation' dominate ordinary usage, coronating tends to appear in formal, literary, or deliberately grandiloquent contexts, where it lends weight and pomp to the act of elevating someone to supreme status.
verb (present participle/gerund of coronate)The act of crowning someone — placing a crown on a person's head as part of a formal ceremony, especially to mark their becoming a monarch; more broadly, investing someone or something with supreme status.
- To crown a monarch as part of a formal enthronement ceremony.
- Figuratively, to invest someone or something with supreme or preeminent status (e.g. 'the critics crowned her the season's best performer').
"The archbishop spent months preparing for the solemn ritual of coronating the new sovereign."
"After the old king's death, the council moved swiftly to begin coronating his eldest son."
"Sports writers were already coronating the rookie as the greatest of his generation before he had played a single playoff game."
Every British monarch since 1066 has been crowned at Westminster Abbey, but 'coronating' itself comes straight from the Latin corona — the same root that gives us the word for the sun's halo.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of coronating
Coronating stems from the verb 'coronate', borrowed from Medieval Latin coronatus ('crowned'), derived from Latin corona, meaning 'crown, garland, wreath'. Corona itself came from Greek korōnē ('crow, curved beak, curved object'), reflecting the curved shape of a wreath. The noun 'coronation' entered English via Old French in the medieval period, and the rarer verb form followed later; cognate forms include corona and coronet.
Related word forms
How coronating is actually used
Coronating is the present participle of the relatively rare verb 'coronate'; in everyday English the noun 'coronation' and the phrase 'to crown' are far more common. The verb carries a formal, ceremonial register in literal use, while figurative use is often ironic or hyperbolic, implying premature or unearned elevation.
Easily confused with coronating
Coronating means crowning or enthroning, while corroborating means confirming or supporting with evidence — they share only a similar rhythm and ending.