culminate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to reach the highest point, summit, or highest development (usually followed by in).
-
to end or arrive at a final stage (usually followed by in).
The argument culminated in a fistfight.
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to rise to or form an apex; terminate (usually followed by in).
The tower culminates in a tall spire.
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Astronomy. (of a celestial body) to be on the meridian, or reach the highest or the lowest altitude.
verb (used with object)
verb
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to end or cause to end, esp to reach or bring to a final or climactic stage
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(intr) (of a celestial body) to cross the meridian of the observer
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have culminatedperfect
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has culminatedperfect 3rd person singular
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are culminatingprogressive
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culminatessingular 3rd person
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has been culminatingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been culminatingperfect progressive
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am culminatingprogressive 1st person singular
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is culminatingprogressive 3rd person singular
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culminatingparticiple
Past
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had culminatedperfect
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were culminatingprogressive plural
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was culminatingprogressive singular
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had been culminatingperfect progressive
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culminatedsimple
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culminatedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of culminate
First recorded in 1640–50; from Late Latin culminātus (past participle of culmināre to come to a peak), equivalent to Latin culmin- (stem of culmen ) “peak, top” + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
The verb culminate is used to describe a high point or a climactic stage in a process. For example, the goal of a Major League baseball team is to have their season culminate in a World Series victory. The word culminate derives from the Latin word culminatus, the past participle of culminare, which means "to top or crown." Use culminate when you are referring to a crowning moment or a final conclusion: “I want my experiments combining strawberry jam with burnt toast to culminate in a Nobel Prize in Chemistry — or at least a lucrative contract with a major food supplier.”
Vocabulary lists containing culminate
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Unbroken
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
