stele
/ˈstiːli/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.34 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An upright (or formerly upright) slab containing engraved or painted decorations or inscriptions; a stela.
noun
An acroterion, the decoration on the ridge of an ancient Greek building such as a temple.
Obsolete
noun
The central core of a plant's root and stem system, especially including the vascular tissue and developed from the plerome.
Example Sentences
- "A superior class of members...had their names inscribed upon a marble stélé or column."
- "It appears, that when any one of the family died, a stelè to his memory was added to the tomb."
- "In Egypt [obelisks] belonged to the class of steles (commemorative pillars)."
- "The Australian stele, or grave-pillar."
- "Two large hieroglyphed steles incised upon the face of a projecting mass of boldly rounded cliff."
- "Stele. The ornaments on the ridge of a Greek temple, answering to the antefixæ on the summit of the flank entablatures, are thus designated."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek στήλη (stḗlē, “upright rock; pillar; column”), plural form στῆλαι (stêlai). Doublet of stela.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: stèle, στήλη
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.