Definition of MONOLITH

monolith

Meanings

Plural: monoliths

Noun

  • a single great stone (often in the form of a column or obelisk)
  • 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.
  • Anything massive, uniform, and unmovable, especially a towering and impersonal cultural, political, or social organization or structure.
  • 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.
  • A dead tree whose height and size have been reduced by breaking off or cutting its branches.

Verb

  • To create (something) as, or convert (one or more things) into, a monolith.
  • To cast (one or more concrete components) in a single piece with no joints.
  • To create (something) as, or convert (one or more things) into, a monolith.
  • To reduce the height and size of (a dead tree) by breaking off or cutting its branches.
  • To create (something) as, or convert (one or more things) into, a monolith.

Origin / Etymology

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.

Antonyms

chimera, polylith

Scrabble Score: 13

monolith is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
monolith is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
monolith is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 15

monolith is a valid Words With Friends word