- diadem
- diadem: [13] A diadem was originally something that was bound round someone’s head. The word comes, via Old French diademe and Latin diadēma, from Greek diádēma; this was a derivative of diadein, a compound verb formed from the prefix dia- ‘across’ and dein ‘bind’. In Greek it was often applied specifically to the regal headband worn by Alexander the Great and his successors.
- diadem (n.)
- late 13c., from Old French diademe and directly from Latin diadema "cloth band worn around the head as a sign of royalty," from Greek diadema, from diadein "to bind across," from dia- "across" (see dia-) + dein "to bind," related to desmos "band," from PIE *de- "to bind." Used of the headband worn by Persian kings and adopted by Alexander the Great and his successors.