obelisk
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Five hundred years later the conquering Sesostris, the bad Pharaoh of the Bible, carved on its surface the record of his famous reign Now Sesostris, or Rameses II, reigned one thousand years before the Trojan war, so that all the symbols now seen on the obelisk were already very old in the days of Priam, Hector and Ulysses.
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American Heritage Dictionary (2)
- noun A tall, four-sided shaft of stone, usually tapered and monolithic, that rises to a pointed pyramidal top.
- noun Printing The dagger sign (†), used especially as a reference mark. Also called dagger, obelus.
Century Dictionary (2)
GNU Webster's 1913 (2)
WordNet (2)
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- The estimated cost of this obelisk is about L5,000 currency, the materials of the old monument being used as far as possible; and as above L4,000[146] have already been contributed, it is expected that the new structure will be commenced in the spring of 1845. — The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock
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And hence the obelisk is the most suitable of all forms to indicate in our cemeteries the glorious truth of the resurrection, life rising victorious out of the transitory condition of death And how admirably did the obelisk lend itself to its symbolical purposes!
— Roman Mosaics Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood -
Five hundred years later the conquering Sesostris, the bad Pharaoh of the Bible, carved on its surface the record of his famous reign Now Sesostris, or Rameses II, reigned one thousand years before the Trojan war, so that all the symbols now seen on the obelisk were already very old in the days of Priam, Hector and Ulysses.
— Reading Made Easy for Foreigners - Third Reader -
The estimated cost of this obelisk is about Ł5,000 currency, the materials of the old monument being used as far as possible; and as above Ł4,000[146] have already been contributed, it is expected that the new structure will be commenced in the spring of 1845.
— The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock -
This obelisk is a solid piece of red granite, without hieroglyphics, and, with the pedestal and ornaments at the top, is 182 feet high.
— De vita Caesarum
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View all »Etymologies (3)
American Heritage Dictionary (1)
- Latin obeliscus, from Greek obeliskos, diminutive of obelos, a spit, obelisk.
Century Dictionary (1)
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet
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Pronunciations
/ (ŏbˈə-lĭsk)/
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American Heritage Dictionary