ziggurat
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of ziggurat
First recorded in 1875–80, ziggurat is from the Akkadian word ziqquratu
Explanation
A ziggurat is a rectangular temple or terraced mound built by ancient Assyrians and Babylonians. Visit Iran and you might have a chance to see the Choqa Zanbil, one of the best preserved ancient ziggurats. Ziggurat comes from the Assyrian ziqquratu meaning "height, pinnacle." Some people believe the top of each ziggurat was used as a shrine. Others believe it was a high place where priests could seek refuge during floods. Today, this tiered rectangular shape still inspires certain architecture, particularly hotels or massive buildings.
Vocabulary lists containing ziggurat
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sotheby’s has moved into Marcel Breuer’s 1966 modernist landmark that looks like an inverted ziggurat and once famously housed the Whitney Museum of American Art.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025
Around midnight, Henry was able to climb a ziggurat to heaven, and I imagine him watching over us, hoping that we will use the lessons that he taught when our apocalypse arrives.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2023
There, we set out to erect the planet’s first skyscraper: a ziggurat that would bridge heaven and earth.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2023
Still, Sevigny’s choices remain throughout, living on as perpetual inspiration: backlit wooden mashrabiya mirrors; ziggurat windows; the carved paneling from York Castle on the walls of the library; and wooden parapets on the terraces.
From New York Times • Dec. 2, 2021
And there was the mystery of the seven-tiered ziggurat that had appeared overnight in the middle of Central Park.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
