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• Rosetta Stone
  Rosetta Stone

  noun

  a stone slab, found in 1799 near Rosetta, bearing parallel inscriptions in Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphic, and demotic characters, making possible the decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
• Rosetta stone
  Rosetta stone

  noun

  a basalt slab discovered in 1799 at Rosetta, dating to the reign of Ptolemy V (196 _bc ) and carved with parallel inscriptions in Egyptian hieroglyphics, demotic characters, and Greek, which provided the key to the decipherment of ancient Egyptian texts

Rosetta Stone

American  

noun

1. a stone slab, found in 1799 near Rosetta, bearing parallel inscriptions in Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphic, and demotic characters, making possible the decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

2. often Rosetta stone. a clue, breakthrough, or discovery that provides crucial knowledge for the solving of a puzzle or problem.

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Rosetta stone British  

noun

1. a basalt slab discovered in 1799 at Rosetta, dating to the reign of Ptolemy V (196 _bc ) and carved with parallel inscriptions in Egyptian hieroglyphics, demotic characters, and Greek, which provided the key to the decipherment of ancient Egyptian texts

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Rosetta stone Cultural  

1. A stone discovered in Egypt (see also Egypt) in the late eighteenth century, inscribed with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and a translation of them in Greek. The stone proved to be the key to understanding Egyptian writing.

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A “Rosetta stone” is the key to understanding a complex problem.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Rosetta Stone Rosetta stone

"It's a stepping stone to Mars, where we might have the most likelihood of finding evidence of past life, but it's also a Rosetta Stone for how other solar systems form."

From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026

Much like the Rosetta Stone helped scientists interpret ancient hieroglyphics, V1298 Tau provides a key reference for understanding how the galaxy's most common planets take shape.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2026

The Rosetta Stone, found in 1799, provided the key to deciphering hieroglyphics; it was discovered by the French army and was seized by the British as war booty.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2025

“NVQLink is the Rosetta Stone connecting quantum and classical supercomputers,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025

If true, this meant to Francis that proteins would not be the Rosetta Stone for unraveling the true secret of life.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson

The Riemann Hypothesis, often considered the most difficult and important problem in all of mathematics, would serve as a Rosetta stone revealing the secrets of the primes.

From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026

To this day, there remains no better Rosetta stone for deciphering the Nirvana generation's view of work than 1999's "Office Space," Mike Judge's paean to the plight of the X-er cubicle drone.

From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2024

In 2017 two research groups discovered a way to translate between human languages without the need for a Rosetta stone.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 22, 2023

The set started with “Nightshift” and “Arabian Knights,” both from “Juju,” the 1981 album that is goth’s Rosetta stone.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2023

She points to the stack of curly “papyrus,” markers, and colored pencils near her desk and hands us a copy of the codes to use like a Rosetta stone.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina