crest

name

1. A census-designated place in San Diego County, California, United States.
2. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English creste, from Old French creste (modern French crête) and perhaps continuing Old English cræsta (“crest, tuft, plume”); both ultimately from Vulgar Latin *cresta, from Latin crista. Doublet of crista. The informal meaning “design, logo” (noun sense 11) stems from a misinterpretation of the heraldic noun sense 4, which specifically refers to the object placed on top of the helm.

1. The summit of a hill or mountain ridge.
2. A tuft, or other natural ornament, growing on an animal's head, for example the comb of a cockerel, the swelling on the head of a snake, the lengthened feathers of the crown or nape of bird, etc.
3. The plume of feathers, or other decoration, worn on or displayed on a helmet; the distinctive ornament of a helmet.
4. A bearing worn, not upon the shield, but usually on a helmet above it, sometimes (as for clerics) separately above the shield or separately as a mark for plate, in letterheads, and the like.

   “I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.”

5. The upper curve of a horse's neck.
6. The ridge or top of a wave.
7. The helm or head, as typical of a high spirit; pride; courage.
8. The ornamental finishing which surmounts the ridge of a roof, canopy, etc.
9. The top line of a slope or embankment.
10. A ridge along the surface of a bone.
11. A design or logo, especially one of an institution, sports club, association or high-class family.

    “Hungry for fame and the approval of rare-animal collector Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton), Darwin deceives the Captain and his crew into believing they can get enough booty to win the pirate competition by entering Polly in a science fair. So the pirates journey to London in cheerful, blinkered defiance of the Queen, a hotheaded schemer whose royal crest reads simply “I hate pirates.””

12. Any of several birds in the family Regulidae, including the goldcrests and firecrests.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English creste, from Old French creste (modern French crête) and perhaps continuing Old English cræsta (“crest, tuft, plume”); both ultimately from Vulgar Latin *cresta, from Latin crista. Doublet of crista. The informal meaning “design, logo” (noun sense 11) stems from a misinterpretation of the heraldic noun sense 4, which specifically refers to the object placed on top of the helm.

1. Particularly with reference to waves, to reach a peak.
2. To reach the crest of (e.g. a hill or mountain).

   “the land rolls gently, so that, upon cresting a low rise or passing a copse of wind turbines, you suddenly spot a lot full of lorries or a complex of gigantic sheds.”

3. To furnish with, or surmount as, a crest; to serve as a crest for.

   “His legs bestrid the ocean, his reared arm / Crested the world.”

   “groves of clouds that crest the mountain's brow”

4. To mark with lines or streaks like waving plumes.

   “Like as the shining skie in summers night, / What time the dayes with scorching heat abound, / Is creasted all with lines of firie light”