Crown
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Crown. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a circlet worn on the head as an ornamental mark of honor, or emblem of authority. The Greek crown placed on the head of the victor in the national games consisted of a garland of laurel. The Romans bestowed a number of crowns,--a garland of wild flowers on the general who relieved a beleaguered garrison; a garland of oak leaves and acorns on him who saved the life of a Roman citizen in battle; and a golden band surmounted by miniature turrets on the first to scale the walls of the enemy. The Roman bride wore a garland of flowers of her own plucking and weaving. The crown of authority of sovereignty is supposed to be derived from the diadem of the Persians. Alexander the Great wore a crown. Charlemagne was crowned with the iron crown of the Lombards. His imperial crown of heavy, pure gold, adorned with hundreds of large, uncut precious gems, and ornamented with inscriptions and enamels, is kept at Vienna. The triple crown of the pope is called his tiara. The royal crown of Great Britain consists of a band of gold enriched with precious stones and pearls, and heightened by four Maltese crosses alternating with fleur de lis. Imperial arches spring from the crosses, uniting under a mound, above which rises a jeweled cross. The heir to the throne, royalty of each degree, and earls are entitled to wear coronets. The term crown is used also in the sense of royal authority and the state. Thus the English speak of the prerogative of the crown, crown lands, crown ministers, crown lawyers, crown officers. Crimes, which in this country are called offenses against the state, are in the United Kingdom offenses against the crown. The governor-general of Canada is said to be appointed by the crown.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a wreath or garland for the head, given as the reward of victory or of some noble deed. Among the Romans they were of several kinds: Castrensis, or vallaris, given to the individual who first scaled the rampart in assaulting the camp of an enemy; muralis, to him who first mounted the breach in storming a town; navalis, to him who first boarded an enemy's ship; obsidionalis, given by soldiers who had been beleaguered to the commander by whom they had been relieved; and civica (the most honorable of all), bestowed on him who had saved the life of a citizen. The word is also applied to the ornament of the head, worn as a badge of sovereignty by emperors, kings and princes. Those worn by the nobility are called coronets. That worn by the Pope is more commonly called a tiara. The monarchical practice of wearing crowns on state occasions is of considerable antiquity. Tarquinius Priscus, 616 b. c. is said to have been the first Roman sovereign who wore one. Constantine, who began to reign in A. D. 306, wore a From him, it is said, the several crown. European kings, from the 4th to the 8th centuries, borrowed the practice.