obelisk
[ob-uh-lisk]
- a tapering, four-sided shaft of stone, usually monolithic and having a pyramidal apex.
- something resembling such a shaft.
- an obelus.
- Printing. dagger(def 2).
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Origin of obelisk
1540–50; < Latin obeliscus < Greek obelískos small spit, equivalent to obel(ós) spit, pointed pillar + -iskos diminutive suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for obelisk
Contemporary Examples
After years of negotiations and a tough journey, the obelisk was planted at the Place de la Concorde.
On the top of the obelisk is a 100-ounce aluminum cap, which acts as a lightning rod.
Historical Examples
If a pyramid or obelisk mould, lift it carefully off the top.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
My blue-eyed friend erected himself into an obelisk of profanity.
American NotesRudyard Kipling
Heliopolis is the "house of the obelisk," the obelisk being a representation of the sun.
History of ReligionAllan Menzies
It went up the Nile as near to the place where the obelisk stood as it could go.
Rollo in ParisJacob Abbott
Then they made a road leading from the place where the obelisk stood to the river.
Rollo in ParisJacob Abbott
obelisk
- a stone pillar having a square or rectangular cross section and sides that taper towards a pyramidal top, often used as a monument in ancient Egypt
- printing another name for dagger (def. 2)
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Word Origin
C16: via Latin from Greek obeliskos a little spit, from obelos spit
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for obelisk
n.
"rectangular stone column tapering at the top," 1560s, from Middle French obélisque (16c.) and directly from Latin obeliscus "obelisk, small spit," from Greek obeliskos "small spit, obelisk, leg of a compass," diminutive of obelos "a spit, pointed pillar, needle." Related: Obeliskine.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper