different between culminating vs culminate

English

Verb

culminating

1. present participle of culminate

English

Etymology

Recorded since 1647, from Medieval Latin culminatus, the past participle of culminare (“to crown”), from Latin culmen (“peak, the highest point”), older form columen (“top, summit”), from a Proto-Indo-European base *kol-, *kelH- (“to project, rise; peak, summit, top”), whence also English hill and holm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?lm?ne?t/

Verb

culminate (third-person singular simple present culminates, present participle culminating, simple past and past participle culminated)

1. (intransitive, astronomy) Of a heavenly body, to be at the highest point, reach its greatest altitude.
2. (intransitive, also figuratively) To reach the (physical) summit, highest point, peak etc.

   Synonym: peak

   • 1875, James Dwight Dana, Manual of Geology

     The type of Cycads culminated in the Mesozoic

   • The house of Burgundy was rapidly culminating.
3. (intransitive, figuratively) To reach a climax; to come to the decisive point (especially as an end or conclusion).

4. (transitive) To finalize, bring to a conclusion, form the climax of.
   • 2010, "By the skin of her teeth", The Economist, 7 Sep 2010:

     The announcement by Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott in Canberra culminated more than a fortnight of intensive political horse-trading.

Related terms

• culm
• culminant
• culmination
• culminating
• culminated

Translations

Adjective

culminate (not comparable)

1. (anatomy) Relating to the culmen

Further reading

• culminate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• culminate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Italian

Verb

culminate

1. second-person plural present indicative of culminare
2. second-person plural imperative of culminare