Word of the Day for Saturday November 12, 2005 diadem \DY-uh-dem\, noun: 1. A crown. 2. An ornamental headband worn (as by Eastern monarchs) as a badge of royalty. 3. Regal power; sovereignty; empire; -- considered as symbolized by the crown. transitive verb: To adorn with a diadem; to crown. On the far side of the cloister in the long, chapel-like room called the Treasure, she sits on her throne -- a small stiff gold figure robed in gold and covered with jewels and crowned with a golden diadem. --Hannah Green, [1]Little Saint The sky above is blue; the many clouds -- sun-drenched, gilded, lively -- have moved down, settled like a great diadem on the broad ring of the encircling mountains. --Milan Kundera, "Love's labour's lost," [2]The Guardian, November 2, 2002 Dead and gone is the British Raj in India, that most glittering jewel in the diadem of Queen Victoria. --Jan Morris, "The Power Behind The Empire," [3]Time Asia, August 12, 2002 _________________________________________________________ Diadem derives from Greek diadema, "a band," from diadein, "to bind around," from dia, "through, across" + dein, "to bind." References 1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375757473/ref=nosim/lexico 2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/ 3. http://www.time.com/time/asia/ Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=diadem