Dictionary

stele en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈstiːli/ (modern)
• (US) audio
• /stiːl/ (modern)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek στήλη (stḗlē, “upright rock; pillar; column”), plural form στῆλαι (stêlai). Doublet of stela.

Meanings

1. An upright (or formerly upright) slab containing engraved or painted decorations or inscriptions; a stela.
   • In Egypt [obelisks] belonged to the class of steles (commemorative pillars). 1847, C. O. Müller, translated by J. Leitch, Anc. Art, §224 193:
   • The Australian stele, or grave-pillar. 1884, A. Lang, Custom & Myth, section 285:
   • A superior class of members...had their names inscribed upon a marble stélé or column. 1820, T. S. Hughes, Trav. Sicily, I x 303:
   • It appears, that when any one of the family died, a stelè to his memory was added to the tomb. 1825, T. D. Fosbroke, Encycl. Antiq., I v 70:
2. (uncommon) Any carved or engraved surface.
   • Two large hieroglyphed steles incised upon the face of a projecting mass of boldly rounded cliff. 1877, A. B. Edwards, Thousand Miles up Nile, VI 143:
3. (obsolete) An acroterion, the decoration on the ridge of an ancient Greek building such as a temple.
   • Stele. The ornaments on the ridge of a Greek temple, answering to the antefixæ on the summit of the flank entablatures, are thus designated. c. 1840, Hosking, "Architecture" in Encyclopædia Britannica, III 470

Forms

Deriveds

polystele · astelic · bistelic · gamostele · monostele

Relateds

orthostat

Synonyms

stela

Translations (75)

nl stele (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · uga 𐎒𐎋𐎐 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · it stele (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · hu sztélé (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · el στήλη (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · de Stele (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · yue 碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · sv stele (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ja 碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · uk сте́ла (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · la stela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · cs stéla (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ml ശിലാഫലകം (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · nan-hbl 碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · he אַסְטֶלָה (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · fa سنگ یادبود (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · th ศิลาจารึก (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · tr stel (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ta சிற்பத்தூண் (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · hsb stela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · hy ստելա (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · nan-hbl 石碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · jv prasasti (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · te స్టీలే (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · be стэла (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · fi steele (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · su prasasti (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ga liagán greanta (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · min prasasti (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · br maen-koun (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · lv stēla (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · my ကျောက်စာ (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · id prasasti (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ja 石碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · hak 石碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ka სტელა (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · egy aHa-Z1:O39 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · bg стела (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · sk stéla (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ms prasasti (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · vi bia (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ko 석비 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · akk narûm (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · nb stele (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ms batu bersurat (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ro stelă (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · he מַצֵּבָה (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · yue 石碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · fr stèle (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · cmn 碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · nn stele (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ca estela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ru сте́ла (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · da stele (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · eu estela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · io steleo (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · lt stela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · ar لَوْحَة تِذْكَارِيَّة (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · pl stela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · min batu basurek (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · mnp 碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · et steel (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · sh stȅla (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · hak 碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · eo steleo (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · sl stela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · tr stela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · sh сте̏ла (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · cmn 石碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · cdo 碑 (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · pt estela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · dsb stela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · war estela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · es estela (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument) · mk стела (archaeology: tall, slender stone monument)

stele en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

From 1886 French stèle, from Ancient Greek στήλη (stḗlē, “upright rock; pillar; column”).

Meanings

1. The central core of a plant's root and stem system, especially including the vascular tissue and developed from the plerome.
   • The stele may have—in different structures—one to many protoxylem (primitive wood) groups, and is accordingly described as monarch...diarch...triarch...tetrarch...polyarch. 1895, Sydney Howard Vines, A Students' Text-book of Botany, section 179:
   • The so-called central cylinder, for which Van Tieghem has proposed the name stele (column). 1898, Eduard Strasburger et al., translated by Hobart Charles Porter, A Text-book of Botany, section 109:

Forms

Deriveds

siphonostele · eustele · plectostele · atactostele · actinostele · haplostele · solenostele · dictyostele · protostele

Translations (10)

pt estela (botany: central core of the root and shoot system) · ru стель (botany: central core of the root and shoot system) · ro cilindru central (botany: central core of the root and shoot system) · ca estela (botany: central core of the root and shoot system) · es estela (botany: central core of the root and shoot system) · fi varsi (botany: central core of the root and shoot system) · ro stel (botany: central core of the root and shoot system) · pl stela (botany: central core of the root and shoot system) · cmn 中柱 (botany: central core of the root and shoot system) · fr stèle (botany: central core of the root and shoot system)