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Added 9 October 2026

corona

/kəˈɹəʊ.nə/ noun

In Latin: corona Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about corona at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A large, round, pendent chandelier, with spikes around its upper rim to hold candles or lamps, usually hung from the roof of a church.
An upper or crownlike portion of certain parts of the body. A region of the skull located along the coronal suture, at the junction between the frontal bone and the two parietal bones. The external (supragingival) portion of the tooth, covered by enamel; the crown. The circumference of the base of the glans penis in human males.
A region of the skull located along the coronal suture, at the junction between the frontal bone and the two parietal bones.

verb

To surround with a luminous or crownlike ring like the solar corona.

noun

A coronavirus, especially SARS-CoV-2.
The recent surge of deaths due to corona reveals the shortcomings of our current healthcare system.
A disease caused by a coronavirus, especially COVID-19.
She caught corona last week.

noun

A series of sonnets linked together such that the last word of each is the first word of the next.

Origin

The noun is borrowed from Latin corōna (“crown; garland, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, “type of crown; curved object (door handle, tip of a bow, stern of a ship, etc.)”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). The English word is a doublet of crown, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone. The plural form coronae is borrowed from Latin corōnae. The verb is derived from the noun.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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