monolith

Meaning

Noun

1. (also, attributive) A large, single block of stone which is a natural feature; or a block of stone or other similar material used in architecture and sculpture, especially one carved into a monument in ancient times.
2. (also, attributive, figuratively) Anything massive, uniform, and unmovable, especially a towering and impersonal cultural, political, or social organization or structure.
3. A substrate having many tiny channels that is cast as a single piece, which is used as a stationary phase for chromatography, as a catalytic surface, etc.
4. (British) A dead tree whose height and size have been reduced by breaking off or cutting its branches.

Verb

1. (transitive) To create (something) as, or convert (one or more things) into, a monolith.
2. (transitive) To create (something) as, or convert (one or more things) into, a monolith.
3. (British, transitive) To create (something) as, or convert (one or more things) into, a monolith.

Opposite of

polylith, chimera

Synonyms

monolithic

monoblock

stone monument

enblock

dam block

monolithic monument

Translations

monolithe

monolito

monolito

monólito

monòlit

μονόλιθος

Monolith

monoliet

yekpare

bütüncül

bütün

tek parça anıt

monolithus

Monolito

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmɒn.ə.lɪθ/

Etymology

Cognate with German: monolith

In summary

The noun is borrowed from French monolithe (“object made from a single block of stone”), from Middle French monolythe (“made from a single block of stone”) (rare), and from their etymon Latin monolithus (“made from a single block of stone”), from Ancient Greek μονόλιθος (monólithos, “made from a single block of stone”), from μονο- (mono-, prefix meaning ‘alone; single’) (from μόνος (mónos, “alone; only, unique”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“little, small”)) + λίθος (líthos, “a stone; stone as a substance”); analysable as mono- + -lith. The English word is cognate with German monolith (“made from a single block of stone”).
The verb is derived from the noun.