culminate
verb
Frederick Marryat
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When a star or other heavenly body culminates, it reaches its highest point above the horizon from the vantage point of an observer on the ground. Culminate was drawn from Medieval Latin culminare, meaning "to crown," specifically for this astronomical application. Its ultimate root is Latin culmen, meaning "top." Today, the word’s typical context is less lofty: it can mean “to reach a climactic point,” as in “a long career culminating in a prestigious award,” but it can also simply mean "to reach the end of something,” as in “a sentence culminating in a period.”
Examples of culminate in a Sentence
Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 14 July 2025
The forward-looking entails thinking about the progress of AI on a year-by-year basis, starting now and culminating in arriving at AGI in 2040.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 13 July 2025
This fall, the synagogue will be observing its 100-year anniversary with a three-day celebration, culminating with an Oct. 26 event which members of Norway’s royal family, the country’s prime minister, the mayor of Trondheim and other dignitaries are scheduled to attend.
—Dan Fellner, Sun Sentinel, 11 July 2025
Initially offering to split it three ways due to an automatic gratuity policy for large parties, Stewart was met with increasingly unreasonable requests, culminating in a demand for nine individual checks.
—Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for culminate
Cite this Entry
“Culminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culminate. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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culminate
verb
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