culminate
2 synonyms for culminate, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Verb — (astronomy) For a sun, star or planet, to reach its highest point in the sky.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Synonyms by Meaning
2. verb
To reach the highest point, either literally or in a more general sense.
“This culminates in a timetable change in December 2020, at which point EMR will introduce a sixth train each hour out of St Pancras.”
Etymology
First attested in 1647; borrowed from Medieval Latin culminātus, perfect passive participle of culminō (“to crown”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin culmen (“peak, highest point”, oblique stem culmin-) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), older form columen (“top, summit”), from Proto-Italic *kolamen, from a Proto-I...
Full origin of culminate →