stele

American  

[stee-lee, steel, steel, stee-lee] / ˈsti li, stil, stil, ˈsti li /

Also stela

noun

plural

stelai, steles

1. an upright stone slab or pillar bearing an inscription or design and serving as a monument, marker, or the like.

2. Architecture. a prepared surface on the face of a building, a rock, etc., bearing an inscription or the like.

3. (in ancient Rome) a burial stone.

4. Botany. the central cylinder or cylinders of vascular and related tissue in the stem, root, petiole, leaf, etc., of the higher plants.

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stele British  

/ ˈstiːlə, ˈstiːlɪ, stiːl /

noun

1. an upright stone slab or column decorated with figures or inscriptions, common in prehistoric times

2. a prepared vertical surface that has a commemorative inscription or design, esp one on the face of a building

3. the conducting tissue of the stems and roots of plants, which is in the form of a cylinder, principally containing xylem, phloem, and pericycle See also protostele siphonostele

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stele Scientific  

/ stēl,stē′lē /

1. The central core of primary vascular tissues in the stem or root of a vascular plant, consisting of xylem and phloem together with pith.

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Other Word Forms

• stelar adjective

Etymology

Origin of stele

First recorded in 1810–20; from Greek stḗlē, akin to histánai “to make stand,” Latin stāre “to stand”; see stand

Explanation

An ancient, upright stone monument is called a stele. Many stelae were carved with inscriptions and used as grave markers. These tall slabs played an important role in the traditions of ancient Greece, Egypt, Somalia, and more. In addition to its potential use as a gravestone, a stele might be used as a territory or boundary marker, or even a way to publicize new laws or a ruler's military successes. The word derives from the Greek stēlē, "standing block." In botany, a stele is the upright core of a vascular plant.

Example Sentences

The room’s most impressive object is a 5th century BC carved marble stele, 8 feet tall.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2025

The stele was handed over to the Turkish ambassador to Italy for return to Turkey.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 28, 2023

The hieroglyphics in this Egyptian stele from circa 1944 BCE are far more stylized than the Egyptian writing produced a thousand years earlier.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

In 1891 a French archaeological team uncovered a stone stele near the village of Sambor on the banks of the Mekong River, in what was then French Indochina, later to become Cambodia/Kampuchea.

From Scientific American • Jul. 28, 2022

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age.

From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• gravestone
• headstone
• marker
• masterpiece
• mausoleum
• pillar
• shrine
• slab
• statue
• stone
• tablet
• testament
• tomb
• tombstone
• tribute