‖ culmen
(ˈkʌlmɛn)
[L. culmen, contr. f. columen top, summit, roof-ridge, etc.]
1. gen. The top or summit; fig. the height, acme, culminating point.
| 1647 Crashaw Poems 129 Chronology and history bear No other culmen than the double art Astronomy, geography impart. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 227 At the culmen or top was a Chappel. a 1734 North Exam. i. iii. §40 (1740) 145 The Culmen of this Historian's Art and Invention. 1856 Dobell Eng. in Time of War, That top and culmen exquisite Whereto the slanting seasons meet. 1928 C. T. Onions in Times 19 Apr. 10/7 The Oxford English Dictionary is the culmen [of a series of lexicons]. |
2. Ornith. The upper ridge of a bird's bill.
| 1833 R. Mudie Brit. Birds (1841) II. 34 Their bills being more curved in the culmen. 1874 Coues Birds N.W. 45 The bill..slender..with the culmen concave near the base. |
3. Anat. ‘The superior vermiform process of the cerebellum’ (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1882).