diadem
Americannoun
-
a crown.
-
a cloth headband, sometimes adorned with jewels, formerly worn by monarchs in Asia Minor and other parts of the East.
-
royal dignity or authority.
verb (used with object)
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diadems,
present (3rd person singular)
-
diademed,
past participle, past
-
diademing
present participle
noun
-
a royal crown, esp a light jewelled circlet
-
royal dignity or power
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
diademsimple
-
diademssimple
-
have diademedperfect
-
has diademedperfect
-
am diademingprogressive
-
are diademingprogressive
-
is diademingprogressive
-
have been diademingperfect progressive
-
has been diademingperfect progressive
Past
-
diademedsimple
-
had diademedperfect
-
was diademingprogressive
-
were diademingprogressive
-
had been diademingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of diadem
1250–1300; Middle English diademe (< Anglo-French ) < Latin diadēma < Greek diádēma fillet, band, equivalent to diadē- (verbid stem of diadeîn to bind round + -ma noun suffix
Explanation
A diadem is a crown, or something on a crown. If you’ve just won the Miss America pageant, reach up your hand — that’s right — that rhinestone encrusted circlet on your head? That’s a diadem. While diadem is a straightforward word meaning "crown," it can also refer to the jewels or other ornaments on a crown. It also sounds like diamond, which is handy for remembering the meaning, because a crown might well have diamonds on it. Or, the diadem could be the diamond on the crown. Technically, you could have a diadem on a diadem, but it would be confusing to say it that way. It comes from the Greek diadema, which was cloth tied around the head to signify royalty. Not as nice as diamonds though, really!
Vocabulary lists containing diadem
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Among them are an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025
Almost 1 meter in diameter, the vessel entombed a woman in her late 20s with a shining silver diadem on her forehead.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 4, 2023
It does not have any crown or royal symbols - unlike many of the predecessors, where kings' stamps often include an image of a crown and queens are depicted wearing a crown or diadem.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2023
Museum officials tried to hide the diadem and other objects in a secret basement.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2022
So Voldemort had managed to wheedle the location of the lost diadem out of the Gray Lady.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
According to the authorities, eight items were taken including diadems, necklaces, ear-rings and brooches.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2025
However huge their historical and cultural value, crowns and diadems can easily be broken apart and sold in bits.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2025
Still, that vision of decorative femininity, complete with flowing capes and diadems, most resembles a live-action version of “Frozen” meets ”Game of Thrones.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2017
As for the people, they will get help wherever they can; prayers and spells and amulets combine ankhs, crosses, old deities, seven-point diadems, the archangel Gabriel.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 30, 2015
Cloaks of turkey feathers fluttered from their shoulders; huge feather diadems exploded gaudily round their heads.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
"This population of diademed sifakas is already in bad shape," Bonadonna said.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2024
I will confront the greatest of my diademed ancestors, and in his tomb.
From Alroy The Prince Of The Captivity by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield
And the knowing eyes were diademed with a specific message.
From The Red Debt Echoes from Kentucky by Everett MacDonald
Perhaps if the diademed tyrants had treated it with indifference, the effects would have been otherwise.
From An Old Sailor's Yarns by N. (Nathaniel) Ames
Timour—he Whom the astonished people saw Striding o'er empires haughtily A diademed outlaw!
From Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works by Edgar Allan Poe
When home, he dwells in a spacious, squatty, fenced-in, brownstone mansion, diademing St. Paul's exclusive Crocus Hill.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
