Obelisk

Quick meaning: Obelisk is a noun meaning (architecture) A tall, square, tapered, stone monolith topped with a pyramidal point, frequently used as a monument.

Meaning

(architecture) A tall, square, tapered, stone monolith topped with a pyramidal point, frequently used as a monument.

More Meanings

1. (typography) Synonym of obelus.
2. (virology) An RNA structure similar to a viroid, with a rod-like secondary structure, which comprises its own phylogenetic group.
3. (entomology, of a dragonfly) To adopt the obelisk posture; to point the tip of the abdomen towards the sun.

Example Sentences

Dragonflies that spend the day in full sun may obelisk to minimize the sunlight striking the body. An obelisking dragonfly looks like it's doing a headstand[…]

The Washington Monument is often described as an obelisk, and sometimes even as a "true obelisk," even though it is not. A true obelisk is a monolith, a pylon formed out of a single piece of stone.

"The clay envelope is Sumerian. It is from the third millennium B.C. It was dug up from the city of Eridu is southern Iraq. The black stele or obelisk is the Code of Hammurabi, which dates from about 1750 B.C.

Word Forms

• obelisks
• obelisc
• obelisking
• obelisked

Synonyms for obelisk

Depending on context, synonyms include aguilla, pylon, stela, dagger.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include dagger, needle, monolith, megalith, bannerstone, summer-stone.

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