capstone

English

Etymology

From Middle English capston; equivalent to cap +‎ stone.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkæpˌstoʊn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

capstone (plural capstones)

1. Any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall; a coping stone.
2. (figurative) A crowning achievement, culmination or finishing touch.
   • 1904, Guy Wetmore Carryl, Far from the Maddening Girls, chapter 5:

     “You see, I’ve never had a girl friend,” I added, by way of topping the obelisk of silliness with the capstone of fatuity.

   • 1969, The Post-Apollo Space Program: Directions for the Future, NASA:

     Success of the Apollo program has been the capstone to a series of significant accomplishments for the United States in space in a broad spectrum of manned and unmanned exploration missions and in the application of space techniques for the benefit of man.

Synonyms

• capestane, copestone

Derived terms

• capstone project

Translations

any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall — see also coping

• German: Mauerkronenstein m
• Greek: επιστέγασμα (el) n (epistégasma)
• Icelandic: lokasteinn m, höfuðsteinn m
• Manx: clagh vullee f
• Spanish: coronamiento (es) m, coronación (es) f

a crowning achievement — see also seminar

• Danish: krone på værket c
• Dutch: bekroning (nl) f, sluitsteen (nl)
• French: couronnement (fr) m
• German: Höhepunkt (de) m, Krönung (de) f
• Greek: επιστέγασμα (el) n (epistégasma)
• Icelandic: kórónan á verk(ið)
• Italian: coronamento (it) m
• Khmer: សមិទ្ធិផលធំធេង (sâmĭtthĭphlôthumthéng)
• Russian: венец (ru) m (venec)
• Spanish: logro coronador m, culminación (es) f, curso culminante m (course), curso apoteósico m (course), curso apoteótico m (course)
• Swedish: krona på verket

Verb

capstone (third-person singular simple present capstones, present participle capstoning, simple past and past participle capstoned)

1. (transitive) To complete as a crowning achievement; to top off.
   • 2012, Keith Brooke, Strange Divisions and Alien Territories, page 23:

     Capstoning a decade's worth of linked short stories, The Quiet War (2008) was a vivid and tense novel about a solar system sliding into conflict.

2. (transitive, US, military, informal) To train in the Capstone Military Leadership Program.
   • 1981, Army Reserve Magazine, volumes 27-28, page 24:

     “Capstoned” units are now able to train and plan in peacetime with the command with which they will fight in wartime.

See also

• caprock
• keystone

Anagrams

• caponets, opencast, patonces, potances