crescent

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cres·cent / ˈkresənt/ • n. 1. the curved sickle shape of the waxing or waning moon. ∎  a representation of such a shape used as an emblem of Islam or Turkey. ∎  (the Crescent) chiefly hist. the political power of Islam or the Ottoman Empire. 2. a thing that has the shape of a single curve, esp. one that is broad in the center and tapers to a point. • adj. 1. in the shape of a crescent. 2. poetic/lit. growing, increasing, or developing. DERIVATIVES: cres·cen·tic / krəˈsentik/ adj. ORIGIN: late Middle English cressant, from Old French creissant, from Latin crescere ‘grow.’

crescent.
1. Building or series of buildings of which the frontage stands in plan on the concave arc of a circle or of an ellipse, generally facing a garden or promenade. The earliest examples are the Royal Crescent, Bath (1767–75), by Wood the Younger, and the semicircular Crescent at Buxton, Derbys. (1780–90), by Carr of York. Camden Crescent (c.1788) by John Eveleigh (fl. 1756–1800) and Lansdown Crescent (1789–93) by John Palmer (c.1738–1817), both in Bath, are two further examples of a type of development that became common in C19. A range of buildings with the front on a convex arch is called a quadrant.

2. Type of arch, also called a horseshoe-arch.

crescent emblematic representation of the quarter moon. The crescent and star, ancient Byzantine symbols that became the emblems of Constantinople, were also assumed as the standard of the Ottoman Turks. The crescent surmounted by a cross indicates the origin of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The crescent appears on the flags of various present-day Muslim nations. The emblem is also used in blazonry.

crescent the curved sickle shape of the waxing or waning moon; in heraldry, the representation of this as a charge or a cadence mark for a second son in England.
The Crescent symbolizes the political power of Islam or of the Ottoman Empire.
Crescent City a name for New Orleans, which is built on a curve of the Mississippi.

crescent figure as of the waxing moon XIV; row of buildings in an arc XVIII. ME. cressa(u)nt — AN. cressaunt, OF. creissant (mod. croissant) :- L. crēscēns, -ent-, prp. of crēscere grow, INCREASE. In XVII assim. to the L. form, which was already current in crescent adj. XVI. See -ENT.

crescent Symbol of the Moon in its first quarter. It has been associated with Islam since the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. It appears on the Turkish standard and other Islamic nation flags.

crescent. Turkish instr. comprising small bells hung from an inverted crescent. Also known as ‘Jingling Johnny’.

crescent The phase of a Moon or inferior planet when it is less than half illuminated as seen by the observer.

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