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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
diadem
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Andronikos also found a diadem, a corselet, helmet and spears, a tripod and metal bowls.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Diadem

Diadem \Di"a*dem\, v. t. To adorn with a diadem; to crown.

Not so, when diadem'd with rays divine.
--Pope.

To terminate the evil, To diadem the right.
--R. H. Neale.

Diadem

Diadem \Di"a*dem\, n. [F. diad[`e]me, L. diadema, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to bind round; dia` through, across + ? to bind; cf. Skr. d[=a] to bind.]

  1. Originally, an ornamental head band or fillet, worn by Eastern monarchs as a badge of royalty; hence (later), also, a crown, in general. ``The regal diadem.''
    --Milton.

  2. Regal power; sovereignty; empire; -- considered as symbolized by the crown.

  3. (Her.) An arch rising from the rim of a crown (rarely also of a coronet), and uniting with others over its center.

    Diadem lemur. (Zo["o]l.) See Indri.

    Diadem spider (Zo["o]l.), the garden spider.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
diadem

late 13c., from Old French diademe and directly from Latin diadema "cloth band worn around the head as a sign of royalty," from Greek diadema, from diadein "to bind across," from dia- "across" (see dia-) + dein "to bind," related to desmos "band," from PIE *de- "to bind." Used of the headband worn by Persian kings and adopted by Alexander the Great and his successors.

Wiktionary
diadem

n. 1 An ornamental headband worn as a badge of royalty. 2 A crown. 3 regal power; sovereignty; empire—considered as symbolized by the crown. 4 (context heraldry English) An arch rising from the rim of a crown (rarely also of a coronet), and uniting with others over its centre. vb. To adorn with a diadem; to crown.

WordNet
diadem

n. an ornamental jewelled headdress signifying sovereignty [syn: crown]

Wikipedia
Diadem (disambiguation)

Diadem may refer to:

  • Diadem, a type of crown
Diadem

A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. The word derives from the Greek διάδημα diádēma, "band" or "fillet", from διαδέω diadéō, "I bind round", or "I fasten".

The term originally referred to the embroidered white silk ribbon, ending in a knot and two fringed strips often draped over the shoulders, that surrounded the head of the king to denote his authority. Such ribbons were also used to crown victorious athletes in important sports games in antiquity. It was later applied to a metal crown, generally in a circular or " fillet" shape. For example, the crown worn by the kings of Anglo-Saxon England was a diadem, as was that of a baron later (in some countries surmounted by three globes). The ancient Celts were believed to have used a thin, semioval gold plate called a mind ( Old Irish) as a diadem. Some of the earliest examples of these types of crowns can be found in ancient Egypt, from the simple fabric type to the more elaborate metallic type, and in the Aegean world.

A diadem is also a jewelled ornament in the shape of a half crown, worn by women and placed over the forehead (in this sense, also called tiara). In some societies, it may be a wreath worn around the head. The ancient Persians wore a high and erect royal tiara encircled with a diadem. Hera, queen of the Greek gods, wore a golden crown called the diadem.

By extension, "diadem" can be used generally for an emblem of regal power or dignity. The head regalia worn by Roman Emperors, from the time of Diocletian onwards, is described as a diadem in the original sources. It was this object that the Foederatus general Odoacer returned to Emperor Zeno (the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire) after his expulsion of the usurper Romulus Augustus from Rome in 476 CE.

Diadem (series)

Diadem is a series of fantasy novels by John Peel.

The series takes place on several different worlds, collectively referred to as the Diadem. Travel between worlds is accomplished through the use of magic portals. The physical distance between worlds is irrelevant. Portal travel is based on the mystical geography of the Diadem, which is divided into five layers. The layers are a little like the layers of an onion and a drawing of them is the logo of the Diadem series and is on every book. At the center is a single world called Jewel, followed by the Inner Circuit, Middle Circuit, Outer Circuit, and Outer Rim. Magic is strongest on Jewel, and progressively weaker the "farther" a world is from the center. In the Outer Rim, magic barely functions at all.

The main characters are three adolescents from worlds on the Outer Rim. Each has extraordinary talent for magic. Due to the weakness of the magic on their home worlds, they do not learn about their abilities (or their mysterious destiny) until the events of the first book.

Diadem (horse)

Diadem (1914–1931) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1000 Guineas in 1917. She went on to become a top sprinter, recording two victories in both the King's Stand Stakes and the July Cup. In total she won 24 of her 39 races. Diadem was bred and owned by Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon, and trained by George Lambton. The Diadem Stakes at Ascot Racecourse was named after her.

Diadem (ship)

Several merchant vessels have borne the name Diadem, after the Diadem, a type of crown:

  • was a 14-gun sloop that Hill, Limehouse, launched in 1798 as the commercial vessel Diadem. The Admiralty purchased her in 1801 and renamed her HMS Falcon in 1802. The Admiralty sold her in 1816. Her buyers renamed her Duke of Wellington. She was wrecked at Batavia in 1820.

  • Diadem (1800 ship) was a barque of 350 or 367 tons ( bm), launched in 1800 by Chapman and Campion, Whitby, for Edward, Aaron, and Robert Chapman. She was sold to the British government in 1818.
  • Diadem (1802 ship) was a ship of 455 tons (bm) launched in 1802 by Chapman and Campion for Edward and Aaron Chapman, and Robert Campion. Lloyd's List of 10 January 1834 reported that '"Diadem'', Smith, master, was a total wreck.
  • Diadem (1840 ship) was a barque of 398 tons (bm) (measuring 105'5"×25'6"×19'7") launched in 1840 by H. Barrick, Whitby, for Chapman, London. She left Gravesend on 18 December 1841 with 166 passengers that she delivered on 10 April 1842 at Port Leschenault, Western Australia.
  • Diadem (1874 ship), a screw steamer built in 1874 in Newcastle and owned by Hall Brothers.
  • SS Diadem (1906), of 3752 tons, was launched in 1906 by Richardson, Duck & Co., Stockton; on 23 February 1916 the German submarine U-38 sank Diadem as Diadem was sailing in ballast from Marseilles to Port Said.

Usage examples of "diadem".

Griffeides, Orpheus with his lute of eight blue stars, Miraldra the Enchantress with blazing Fenim for her diadem, and low in the southeast the star-veils of Alastor Cluster.

So delightful was the sudden change of circumstances that I became quite boyish, and seizing the old man in my exuberance by the hands, dragged him to his feet, and danced him round and round in a circle, while his ancient hair flapped about his head, his skin cloak waved from his shoulders like a pair of dusky wings and half-eaten cakes, dried flesh, glittering jewels, broken diadems, and golden finger-rings were flung in an arc about us.

But the freeborn Barbarians were not dazzled by the lustre of the diadem, and the people asserted their indefeasible right of choosing, deposing, and punishing the hereditary servant of the state.

To his astonishment, he perceived that they were prostrating themselves before him, all save one, dressed as it seemed in a robe of placoid scales, and crowned with a luminous diadem, who stood with his reptilian mouth opening and shutting, as though he led the chanting of the worshippers.

The diadem in the center of the circlet of gold upon the brow of Lakor proclaimed him a Holy Thern, while his companion, not thus adorned, was a lesser thern, though from his harness I gleaned that he had reached the Ninth Cycle, which is but one below that of the Holy Therns.

Lord Ragnr and Styl puffed up his chest until it almost overshadowed his belly, which was proud and taut beneath a layer of sashes and diadems.

A vision in tiered and tasseled skirt of embroidered flame and saffron, a short-sleeved coat upon his upper body, and on his head a towerlike tiara tied round with the white ribbon of the diadem.

Time, too, though in moral sadness wisely called a shadow, has been clothed with terrific attributes, and the sweep of his scythe has shorn the towery diadem of cities.

These coins were emblazoned with the profile of the second King Mithridates of the Parthians, a short-necked old man with a nose suitable for catching fish, carefully curled hair and pointed beard, and on his head the little round brimless hat his ambassadors had worn, except that his boasted the ribbon of the diadem and had ear-flaps and neck-shield.

Tigranes fled a second time, so certain he would be captured that he gave his tiara and diadem to one of his sons to keep, exhorting the princeling to gallop faster because he was younger and lighter.

Aspacuras, who owed his diadem to the choice of Sapor, was obliged to declare, that his regard for his children, who were detained as hostages by the tyrant, was the only consideration which prevented him from openly renouncing the alliance of Persia.

Better his end had been as the end of a cloudless day, Bright, by the word of Zeus, with a golden star, Wrought of a golden fame, and flung to the central sky, To gleam on a stormless tomb for evermore: -- Whether or not there fell To the touch of an alien hand The sheen of his purple robe and the shine of his diadem, Better his end had been To die as an old man dies, -- But the fates are ever the fates, and a crown is ever a crown.

The patrician Aspar might have placed the diadem on his own head, if he would have subscribed the Nicene creed.

Still excessively abundant, it was dressed in a manner of which the poor lady appeared not yet to have recognised the supersession, with a glossy braid, like a large diadem, on the top of the head, and behind, at the nape of the neck, a dingy rosette like a large button.

Castle, seen from a distance, was an irregular diadem that perched on the craggy brow of a rock overlooking the wattled rooftops of the Old Town across the river.