obelisk

obelisk

See also: Obelisk

English

Etymology

The Obelisk of Theodosius (sense 1), which was originally erected by Pharaoh Thutmose III around 1490 BCE in Egypt, then transported by the Roman emperor Theodosius I and installed in the Hippodrome of Constantinople (in modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) in 390.

From Middle French obelisque, from Latin obeliscus (“obelisk”), from Ancient Greek ὀβελίσκος (obelískos), diminutive of ὀβελός (obelós, “needle”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɒbəlɪsk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔbəlɪsk/, /ˈɑbəlɪsk/

Noun

obelisk (plural obelisks)

1. (architecture) A tall, square, tapered, stone monolith topped with a pyramidal point, frequently used as a monument. [from mid 16th c.]
   • 2012 January, Henry Petroski, “The Washington Monument”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, page 16:

     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.

2. (typography) Synonym of obelus
   1. (historical) A symbol resembling a horizontal line (–), sometimes together with one or two dots (for example, ⨪ or ÷), which was used in ancient manuscripts and texts to mark a word or passage as doubtful or spurious, or redundant.
   2. A dagger symbol (†), which is used in printed matter as a reference mark to refer the reader to a footnote, marginal note, etc.; beside a person's name to indicate that the person is deceased; or beside a date to indicate that it is a person's death date.

Usage notes

Regarding sense 2, obelus was used in Middle English, but thereafter was displaced by obelisk until the 19th century when both words began to be used with equal regularity.[1]

Alternative forms

• obelisc

Synonyms

• (architecture): aguilla, pylon, stela

Hypernyms

• (architecture): needle

Meronyms

• (architecture): pyramidion

Derived terms

• obeliscal
• obeliscoid, obeliskoid
• obelisklike

Translations

tall, square, tapered, stone monolith topped with a pyramidal point

Albanian: obelisk (sq) m Arabic: مِسَلَّة‎ f (misalla) Armenian: կոթող (hy) (kotʿoł) Azerbaijani: obelisk Belarusian: абелі́ск m (abjelísk) Bulgarian: обели́ск m (obelísk) Burmese: ကျောက်စာတိုင် (my) (kyaukcatuing) Catalan: obelisc (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 方尖碑 (zh) (fāngjiānbēi) Czech: obelisk (cs) m Danish: obelisk c Dutch: obelisk (nl) m Egyptian: (tḫn) Esperanto: obelisko Estonian: obelisk (et) Finnish: obeliski (fi) French: obélisque (fr) m Galician: obelisco m Georgian: ობელისკი (obelisḳi) German: Obelisk (de) m Greek: οβελίσκος (el) m (ovelískos) Hebrew: אוֹבֶּלִיסְק‎ (he) m (obelísk) Hindi: ओबिलिस्क (obilisk) Hungarian: obeliszk (hu) Irish: oibilisc f Italian: obelisco (it) m Japanese: オベリスク (oberisuku), 方尖柱 (ほうせんちゅう, hōsenchū) Kazakh: обелиск (obelisk) Korean: 오벨리스크 (obelliseukeu), 방첨탑(方尖塔) (bangcheomtap) Kyrgyz: обелиск (obelisk) Latin: obeliscus m Latvian: obelisks m Lithuanian: obeliskas m Macedonian: обелиск m (obelisk) Norwegian: Bokmål: obelisk m Persian: ابلیسک‎ (obelisk) Polish: obelisk (pl) m Portuguese: obelisco (pt) m Romanian: obelisc (ro) n Russian: обели́ск (ru) m (obelísk) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: обѐлиск m Roman: obèlisk (sh) m Slovak: obelisk m Slovene: obelísk (sl) m Spanish: obelisco (es) m Swedish: obelisk (sv) c Ukrainian: обелі́ск m (obelísk) Uzbek: obelisk (uz) Vietnamese: tượng đài Tagalog: obelisko Tajik: обелиск (obelisk) Turkish: obelisk (tr), dikili taş (tr), dikilitaş (tr)

symbol used in ancient manuscripts and texts to mark a word or passage as doubtful or spurious, or redundant — see obelus

dagger symbol — See also translations at dagger

French: obèle (fr) m German: Kreuz (de) n Greek: οβελίσκος (el) m (ovelískos) Irish: miodóg f Latin: obeliscus m Swedish: kors (sv) n

See also

• menhir
• pillar

Verb

obelisk (third-person singular simple present obelisks, present participle obelisking, simple past and past participle obelisked)

1. (entomology, of a dragonfly) To adopt the obelisk posture; to point the tip of the abdomen towards the sun.
   • 2004, Cynthia Berger, Dragonflies‎:

     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 […]

References

1. “obelisk, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2004; “obelisk, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

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Polish

obelisk

Etymology

Borrowed from French obélisque, from Middle French obelisque, from Latin obeliscus (“obelisk”), from Ancient Greek ὀβελίσκος (obelískos), diminutive of ὀβελός (obelós, “needle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔˈbɛ.lisk/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlisk
• Syllabification: o‧be‧lisk

Noun

obelisk m inan

1. (architecture) obelisk (tall, square, tapered, stone monolith topped with a pyramidal point)

Declension

Declension of obelisk

	singular	plural
nominative	obelisk	obeliski
genitive	obelisku	obelisków
dative	obeliskowi	obeliskom
accusative	obelisk	obeliski
instrumental	obeliskiem	obeliskami
locative	obelisku	obeliskach
vocative	obelisku	obeliski

Derived terms

adjective

• obeliskowy

 

Further reading

• obelisk in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• obelisk in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /obělisk/
• Hyphenation: o‧be‧lisk

Noun

obèlisk m (Cyrillic spelling обѐлиск)

1. obelisk

Declension

Declension of obelisk

	singular	plural
nominative	obèlisk	obèlisci
genitive	obeliska	obèlisāka / obèliskā
dative	obelisku	obeliscima
accusative	obelisk	obeliske
vocative	obelišče / obelisku	obelisci
locative	obelisku	obeliscima
instrumental	obeliskom	obeliscima

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /obɛlɪsk/
• Rhymes: -ɪsk

Noun

obelisk c

1. obelisk

Declension

Declension of obelisk
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	obelisk	obelisken	obelisker	obeliskerna
Genitive	obelisks	obeliskens	obeliskers	obeliskernas