ˈcrown imˈperial
1. The crown of an emperor, esp. as distinguished from a king's crown.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apophth. i. §164. 136 b, [Diogenes] takyng no lesse pride and glorie of his libertee..then Alexander did of his kyngdome, and croune Emperiall. |
2. A handsome species of Fritillary (Fritillaria Imperialis), a native of Levantine regions, cultivated in English gardens: it bears a number of pendent flowers collected into a whorl round a terminal leafy tuft.
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iii. 125 Bold Oxlips, and The Crowne Imperiall. 1625 B. Jonson Pan's Anniversary Wks. (ed. Rtldg.) 643/1 Bright crown imperial, kingspear, holyhocks. 1816 Kirkby & Sp. Entomol. (1843) II. 147 The conspicuous white nectaries of the Crown Imperial. |
3. Arch. (See quot.)
| 1861 A. Beresford-Hope Eng. Cathedr. 19th C. 244 There is a form of spire peculiar to the northern part of our island..I mean the Crown Imperial, or collection of ribs springing from the four angles, or from the four angles and four central points of a square tower, arching over like the crown from which the name is derived and meeting in a point from which a spire or spirelet springs. |