Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A garland, wreath, or circlet for the head.
  • noun Linguistics A coronal consonant.
  • adjective Of or relating to a corona, especially of the head.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or having the direction of the coronal suture or of the plane dividing the body into front and back portions.
  • adjective Linguistics Articulated by raising the blade of the tongue, as (t) in tip and (n) in night.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to a crown; relating to the crown or to coronation.
  • In anatomy and zoology, pertaining to a corona, in any sense of the word; coronary. Specifically— Pertaining to the corona or top of the head: as, the coronal suture (that is, the frontoparietal suture); coronal feathers of a bird.
  • Corresponding to the coronal suture (that is, transverse and longitudinal) in direction: said of any plane or section of the body extending from one side to the other through or parallel with the long axis: distinguished from sagittal: as, a coronal section of the foot.
  • Of or pertaining to a corona, or halo around one of the heavenly bodies; specifically, pertaining to the corona of the sun.
  • noun A crown, wreath, or garland.
  • noun The head of a tilting-lance of iron, furnished with two, three, or four blunt points, which give a good hold on shield or helmet when striking, but do not penetrate.
  • noun The tilting-lance itself.
  • noun In anatomy, the coronal or frontoparietal suture. See cut under skull.
  • noun In biology, a coronal or crowning cell; one of the ectoblasts of a segmented ovum in certain stages of its development.
  • In botany, pertaining to a corona in any of the botanical senses of that word.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a corona (in any of the senses).
  • adjective Of or pertaining to a king's crown, or coronation.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the top of the head or skull.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the shell of a sea urchin.
  • adjective (Anat.) a suture extending across the skull between the parietal and frontal bones; the fronto-parietal suture.
  • noun A crown; wreath; garland.
  • noun The frontal bone, over which the ancients wore their coronæ or garlands.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A crown or coronet.
  • noun A wreath or garland of flowers.
  • noun obsolete a variant of colonel
  • noun The frontal bone, over which the ancients wore their coronae or garlands.
  • adjective relating to a crown
  • adjective astronomy relating to the corona of a star
  • adjective botany relating to the corona of a flower
  • adjective phonetics relating to a sound made with the tip or blade of the tongue
  • adjective anatomy a "coronal plane" or a "coronal section" divides a body into dorsal (back) and ventral (front)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Latin corōnālis, of a crown, from corōna, crown; see crown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin coronalis ("related to a crown"), from corona ("crown").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word coronal.

Examples

  • The comet was left a bare rock, with its severed tail wrapped around the front of the solar storm, known as a coronal mass ejection.

    Hurricane Chops Tail Off of Comet | Impact Lab 2007

  • A jet of highly energized particles, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted billowing away from the sun a short time later.

    Space Diary: Sun 2009

  • That depth perception is also particularly helpful for studying a type of solar eruption called a coronal mass ejection.

    NASA Releases 3D Images of the Sun | Impact Lab 2007

  • A jet of highly energized particles, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted billowing away from the sun a short time later.

    Space Diary: Solar Cycle 2009

  • A jet of highly energized particles, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted billowing away from the sun a short time later.

    Space Diary: Space Weather 2008

  • A jet of highly energized particles, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted billowing away from the sun a short time later.

    Space Diary: Sunspot 2008

  • A jet of highly energized particles, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted billowing away from the sun a short time later.

    Space Diary: Solar physics 2008

  • A jet of highly energized particles, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted billowing away from the sun a short time later.

    Space Diary: Solar flare 2008

  • BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are officially known as coronal mass expulsions, but most people know them better at solar flares.

    CNN Transcript May 16, 2005 2005

  • For that matter the coronal was a bye-word, and why not?

    The Collectors Frank Jewett Mather

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.