▪ I. coronal, n.
(ˈkɒrənəl)
Forms: 4 coronale, corounal, cornel(l, 4–7 coronall, 5 corenalle, coronell, cornal(le, 5–6 coronalle, 5–9 coronel, 6–7 curnall, 7 cronall, -el, 4– coronal.
[app. repr. an AngloFr. *coronal, *corounal, f. coroune crown. Not known in continental Fr. In 5 prob. directly ad. L. corōnālis.]
I. 1. A circlet for the head; esp. one of gold or gems, connoting rank or dignity; a coronet.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11236 And in hure chaumbre vpon a pal Þey corouned hure wyþ a coronal. 1388 Wyclif Judith xvi. 10 Sche..boond togidere the tressis of hir heeris with a coronal [Vulg. mitra, 1611 tyre, marg. or miter]. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 642 Hyr here was hyȝthtyd on hold With a coronal of gold. 1494 Househ. Ord. 128 The imposition of the cappe of estate & coronell is for the creation of the Prince. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 833/2 On hir head a coronall all of greet pearles. 1640 Habington Q. Arragon ii. i. in Hazl. Dodsley XIII. 345 Souls Whom courtiers' gaudy outside captivates And plume of coronel. 1843 Lytton Last Bar. vii. vi, His son shall..wear the coronal of a duke. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 20 On his head a coronel he had. |
† b. A circlet of gold round a helmet. Cf. circle 10 b. Obs.
| c 1325 Coer de L. 297 Hys gorgette, with hys cornell tho, Hys necke he brak there atwo. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace 10042 An helm he had on his hed..A riche corounal wiþ perre, al of brent golde. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 908 The creste and þe coronalle. 1829 Scott Anne of G. iii. The golden garland, or coronal twisted around it [a helmet]..indicated noble birth and rank. |
c. transf. and fig.
| 1832 Marryat N. Forster ii, The sooty coronal of the wick..fell with the shock. 1843 Prescott Mexico i. v. (1864) 43 Clustering pyramids of flowers, towering above their dark coronals of leaves. 1883 Ld. R. Gower My Remin. I. iii. 37 This royal hill is suitably crowned by a coronal of old stone pines. |
2. A wreath of flowers or leaves for the head; a garland.
| 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb., My flowres..That bene the honor of your Coronall. 1610 Fletcher Faithf. Sheph. i. i, No more shall these smooth brows be girt With youthful coronals, and lead the dance. a 1766 W. Thompson Hymn to May 295 Your may-pole deck with flow'ry coronal. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey viii. iii, Wearing on her head a coronal of white roses. 1860 T. Martin Horace 147 Twine for them Of rosemary a simple coronal. |
b. transf.
| 1849 Rock Ch. of Fathers II. 102 note, The coronel of strawberry leaves..round the brow of the archiepiscopal mitre. 1883 Truth 31 May 768/1 [A bonnet] with a coronal, under the brim, of soft pink crushed roses. |
† 3. The head of a spear or lance, esp. of a tilting lance, ending in three or four short spreading points. (Often cronall, cronel, curnall.) Obs.
| c 1325 Coer de L. 6219 Kyng Richard leet dyght hym a schafft..And..Leete sette theron a corounal kene. a 1330 Syr Degarre 568 His schaft was strong, and god with al And wel scharped the coronal. 1460 Lybeaus Disc. 929 Breng a schaft that nell naght breke, A schaft wyth a cornall. a 1470 Tiptoft in Segar Hon. Mil. & Civ. iii. li. (1602) 188 Whoso meeteth cronall to cronall shall haue a prize..He that striketh Curnall to Curnall two times. [1860 Fairholt Costume 426 Coronel, the upper part of a jousting-lance, constructed to unhorse, but not to wound, a knight.] |
† 4. The capital of a column. Obs. rare.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 3665 Of fyne gold a foure hundreth postis, With crafti coronals..coruen of þe same. |
II. † 5. Anat. The frontal bone: cf. next 2 a.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 108 Þe firste boon is clepid þe boon of þe forheed or ellis coronale. Ibid. 109 (MS. B) Þese tweye bonys beþ y-clepyde Nerualia by cause of þe ffigure of the seme þat ys wiþ þe coronale. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg., The fyrst bone of the fore parte is called Coronall. 1758 J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. (1771) 75 The Piece of Bone that was deficient in the Coronal. |
▪ II. coronal, a.
(kɒˈrəʊnəl, ˈkɒrənəl)
[a. F. coronal (Paré 16th c.), or ad. L. corōnāl-is, f. corōna crown.]
† 1. Pertaining or relating to a crown, or to coronation. Obs.
| 1577 Hellowes Gueuara's Chron. 132 The tribute coronall, that is to saye, the money that was giuen vnto the Emperours for their Coronation. 1649 Milton Eikon. vi. (1851) 386 The Law and his Coronal Oath requires his undeniable assent to what Laws the Parlament agree upon. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 27 Coronal gems of every dye. |
2. Anat. and Zool. a. coronal suture († coronal commissure): the transverse suture of the skull separating the frontal bone from the parietal bones. So coronal region (of the forehead), etc. coronal bone: the frontal bone.
| 1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. (1586) 330 b, Vpon the coronall commissure. 1548–77 Vicary Anat. iii. 27 The Coronal bone, in which is y⊇ Orbyts or holes of the Eyes. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 434 The Coronall suture or crowny seame. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. xxv, Wherewith he hit him in the coronal joynt of his head. 1718 J. Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. (1730) I. xi. §2, At the Top of the Head where the sagittal and coronal Sutures cross each other. 1841 Cruveilhier's Anat. I. 46 in Libr. Med. VII, The Frontal or Coronal Bone. 1881 Mivart Cat 63. |
b. Of or pertaining to the crown of the head.
| 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. I. 235 The Crested-Lark..coronal tuft of elongated acuminated feathers. 1859 R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXIX. 314 The coronal region is ignobly flat. |
† c. = coronary a. 3 a. Obs.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v. Vein, Coronal veine, the Crown-vein; a branch of the spleen-veine, so termed because it environs the heart in manner of a Crown. |
d. Pertaining to the corona (in various senses: see corona 6).
| 1846 Dana Zooph. (1848) 233 The coronal teeth are less prominent. |
3. Bot. Pertaining to, or of the nature of, a corona (in various senses: see corona 7).
| 1770–4 A. Hunter Georg. Ess. (1803) I. 294 The pipe of communication between the seminal and coronal roots. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 108 The coronal processes of Silene. |
4. Astron. Of or pertaining to the sun's corona.
| 1870 Proctor Other Worlds ii. 49 The bright lines of the coronal spectrum correspond in position to those seen in the spectrum of the aurora. 1871 Daily News 12 Jan., So abundant is the coronal light..during totality. 1891 Huggins in Nature 20 Aug. 373/1 Of the physical and the chemical nature of the coronal matter we know very little. |
5. Phonetics. Pronounced with the tip of the tongue turned upward towards the palate; pertaining to such pronunciation. Cf. inverted ppl. a. 1 c.
| 1890 A. J. Ellis Eng. Dial. p. xvii/2 The usual English coronal ‘d in do’ with the tip of the tongue free from the gums, and approaching the ‘crown’ of the arch of the hard palate. 1899 R. J. Lloyd Northern Eng. Phonetics 22 In a coronal vowel, the vowel configuration seems to be shifted backwards, so that its exit is no longer at the lips, but between the tongue-tip and the palate. Ibid. 23 These coronal symbols are chosen to indicate timbre rather than articulation. 1931 W. Ripman Eng. Phonetics 30 In their production the point [of the tongue] is curled back... These are called coronal or cacuminal vowels. 1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. vi. 98 Contact can be made by the tip of the tongue (apical articulation) or by a larger area, the blade, round the tip (coronal articulation). 1968 Chomsky & Halle Sound Pattern Eng. 304 Coronal sounds are produced with the blade of the tongue raised from its neutral position. |