Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In architecture, the apex in the shape of a small pyramid which often terminates the top of an obelisk, and was very commonly sheathed with a cap of metal: often applied to any comparatively small structure or member of pyramidal shape.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The small pyramid which crowns or completes an obelisk.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The small pyramid which crowns or completes an obelisk.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

New Latin, from Latin pyramis. See pyramid

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Examples

  • "The heaviest damage appears to be concentrated at the very top of the monument, in what is called the pyramidion, where large cracks of up to 1 1/4 inch wide developed through stone and mortar joints," said Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks.

    CNN.com 2011

  • "The heaviest damage appears to be concentrated at the very top of the monument, in what is called the pyramidion, where large cracks of up to 1 1/4 inch wide developed through stone and mortar joints," said Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks.

    CNN.com 2011

  • "The heaviest damage appears to be concentrated at the very top of the monument, in what is called the pyramidion, where large cracks of up to 1 1/4 inch wide developed through stone and mortar joints," Vogel said.

    CNN.com 2011

  • "The heaviest damage appears to be concentrated at the very top of the monument, in what is called the pyramidion, where large cracks of up to 1 1/4 inch wide developed through stone and mortar joints," said Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks.

    CNN.com 2011

  • "The heaviest damage appears to be concentrated at the very top of the monument, in what is called the pyramidion, where large cracks of up to 1 1/4 inch wide developed through stone and mortar joints," said Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks.

    CNN.com 2011

  • Seavers climbed up the ladder into the 55-foot-tall structure above the shaft called the “pyramidion,” because of the way its four walls converged to form the point of the 555-foot-tall monument.

    The Atlantis Prophecy Thomas Greanias 2008

  • Slowly he began his ascent in the dark toward the capstone at the top of the pyramidion as he listened to the strains of the Capitol Fourth concert outside.

    The Atlantis Prophecy Thomas Greanias 2008

  • Seavers screamed and released his grip on the canister, which clanked down the pyramidion and disappeared into the darkness.

    The Atlantis Prophecy Thomas Greanias 2008

  • Conrad knew the pyramidion was about 55 feet in height.

    The Atlantis Prophecy Thomas Greanias 2008

  • Interestingly, however, the golden pyramidion on the Paris Obelisk is only a very recent addition—it was added to the great stone needle in 1998.

    Seven Deadly Wonders Matthew Reilly 2006

Comments

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  • Madame Speaker Contemplates the Washington Monument

    That obelisk, dully euclidian,

    Taught Nancy a truth non-quotidian:

    There’s skillful statecraft

    In giving the shaft

    But art in the sharp pyramidion.

    February 11, 2019