Dictionary

capstone en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkæpˌstoʊn/ (General-American)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English capston; equivalent to cap + stone.

Meanings

1. Any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall; a coping stone.
2. (figuratively) A crowning achievement, culmination or finishing touch.
   • 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. 1969, The Post-Apollo Space Program: Directions for the Future, NASA:
   • “You see, I’ve never had a girl friend,” I added, by way of topping the obelisk of silliness with the capstone of fatuity. 1904, Guy Wetmore Carryl, Far from the Maddening Girls, chapter 5:

Forms

Deriveds

capstone project

Synonyms

capestane · copestone

Translations (24)

es curso apoteósico (a crowning achievement) · es coronación (any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall) · is höfuðsteinn (any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall) · it coronamento (a crowning achievement) · sv krona på verket (a crowning achievement) · is lokasteinn (any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall) · is kórónan á verk (ið) (a crowning achievement) · km សមិទ្ធិផលធំធេង (a crowning achievement) · de Mauerkronenstein (any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall) · nl sluitsteen (a crowning achievement) · es culminación (a crowning achievement) · fr couronnement (a crowning achievement) · da krone på værket (a crowning achievement) · es logro coronador (a crowning achievement) · es curso apoteótico (a crowning achievement) · el επιστέγασμα (a crowning achievement) · de Höhepunkt (a crowning achievement) · el επιστέγασμα (any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall) · ru венец (a crowning achievement) · gv clagh vullee (any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall) · es curso culminante (a crowning achievement) · nl bekroning (a crowning achievement) · es coronamiento (any of the stones making up the top layer of a wall) · de Krönung (a crowning achievement)

capstone en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈkæpˌstoʊn/ (General-American)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English capston; equivalent to cap + stone.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To complete as a crowning achievement; to top off.
   • 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. 2012, Keith Brooke, Strange Divisions and Alien Territories, page 23:
2. (US, informal, transitive) To train in the Capstone Military Leadership Program.
   • “Capstoned” units are now able to train and plan in peacetime with the command with which they will fight in wartime. 1981, Army Reserve Magazine, volumes 27-28, page 24:

Forms

Relateds

caprock · keystone