# pillar
## English

| Beinecke library pillar | Pelham's pillar | Roman pillar ruin |

### Etymology

From Middle English piler, from Old French pilier, from Medieval Latin or Vulgar Latin *pilāre (“a pillar”), from Latin pila (“a pillar, pier, mole”).

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ˈpɪlɚ/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈpɪlə/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪlə(ɹ)
* Hyphenation: pil‧lar

### Noun

pillar (plural pillars)
* (architecture) A large post, often used as supporting architecture.
* Something resembling such a structure.
    a pillar of smoke
* (figuratively) An essential part of something that provides support.
    He's a pillar of the community.
** 1992, Richard Nixon, “The Pacific Triangle”, in Seize the Moment‎, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 181:In the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972, we recognized the fact that both Beijing and Taipei viewed Taiwan as part of China but unequivocally expressed our support for a peaceful settlement of the unification issue. While we should not alter the fundamental pillars of our policy, we should consider certain steps that will raise Taiwan's international standing.
** 2016, Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea, spoken by CJ (Christian Mallen):Star Trek is one of the pillars of modern entertainment.
* (Roman Catholicism) A portable ornamental column, formerly carried before a cardinal, as emblematic of his support to the church.
** a. 1529, John Skelton, a poem:two laye-men secular eache of theym holdynge a pillar In their hondes, steade of a mace
* The centre of the volta, ring, or manege ground, around which a horse turns.
* (bodybuilding) The body from the hips over the core to the shoulders.
* (geology) A vertical, often spire-shaped, natural rock formation.

#### Synonyms

* column, sile

#### Derived terms

* A-pillar, B-pillar, C-pillar, D-pillar
* bundle pillar
* earth pillar
* from pillar to post
* from post to pillar
* ice pillar
* light pillar
* pillar and stall
* pillar-biter
* pillar block
* pillar box
* pillar-box red
* pillar candle
* pillar dollar
* pillar drill
* pillar harp
* pillar of fire
* pillar of flame
* pillar of society
* pillar of strength
* pillar of the community
* pillar telephone
* room and pillar
* sand pillar
* solar pillar
* sun pillar
* triangulation pillar
* trig pillar
* water pillar

#### Translations

Ainu: イクㇲペ (ikuspe)
Albanian: shtyllë (sq) f
Arabic: عمود
Egyptian Arabic: عمود m (ʕamūd)
Armenian: սյուն (hy) (syun), կոթող (hy) (kotʻoġ), հենարան (hy) (henaran), նեցուկ (hy) (necʻuk), պատվար (hy) (patvar), հենասյուն (hy) (henasyun)
Old Armenian: սիւն (siwn)
Aromanian: stur, stil, durec
Assamese: খুঁটা (khũta), থাম (tham)
Asturian: pilar m
Azerbaijani: dirək (az), sütun (az)
Bashkir: бағана (bağana), баған (bağan) (Eastern Bashkir); колонна (kolonna)
Berber:
Tashelhit: anbdad m
Bikol Central: harigi (bcl)
Breton: post (br) m, peul (br) m
Bulgarian: стълб (bg) m (stǎlb), колона (bg) f (kolona)
Catalan: pilar (ca) m
Cebuano: haligi
Chinese:
Mandarin: 柱子 (zh) (zhùzi)
Czech: pilíř (cs) m
Dalmatian: chilauna f
Danish: søjle (da) c
Dutch: pijler (nl), zuil (nl), pilaar (nl)
Egyptian: (jwn m), (wḫꜣ m), (ꜥꜣ m)
Esperanto: piliero
Etruscan: 𐌚𐌀𐌋𐌀 class inanimate (fala)
Finnish: pylväs (fi), pilari (fi)
French: pilier (fr) m, pile (fr) f
Galician: piar (gl) m
Georgian: სვეტი (sveṭi), დედაბოძი (ka) (dedaboʒi), საყრდენი (saq̇rdeni)
German: Pfeiler (de) m, Säule (de) f
Gothic: 𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌻𐍃 f (sauls)
Greek: στυλοβάτης (el) m (stylovátis), κολώνα (el) f (kolóna), στύλος (el) m (stýlos)
Ancient: στῦλος m (stûlos), κίων m or f (kíōn)
Hawaiian: kia, kulu
Hebrew: עמוד (he) m ('amúd)
Hindi: स्तंभ (hi) (stambh), खंभा (hi) (khambhā)
Hungarian: oszlop (hu), pillér (hu)
Indonesian: pilar (id), tiang (id)
Irish: piléar m
Italian: pilastro (it) m
Japanese: 柱 (ja) (はしら, hashira)
Kazakh: діңгек (dıñgek)
Khmer: សសរ (km) (sɑsɑɑ)
Korean: 기둥 (ko) (gidung)
Latin: columna f
Lithuanian: piliorius (lt) m
Macedonian: сто́лб m (stólb), ди́рек m (dírek)
Malagasy: andry (mg)
Malay: tiang (ms), turus (ms)
Malayalam: തൂണ് (ml) (tūṇŭ), സ്തംഭം (ml) (stambhaṁ)
Manchu: ᡨᡠᡵᠠ (tura)
Maori: turu, pou, himu
Mongolian: багана (mn) (bagana)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: søyle (no) m or f
Nynorsk: søyle f
Nupe: ekpó
Occitan: pilar (oc) m
Ottoman Turkish: دیرك (direk), پاینده (payende, payanda), دستك (destek)
Persian: ستون (fa) (sotun)
Polish: filar (pl) m
Portuguese: pilar (pt) m
Romanian: stâlp (ro) m
Russian: столб (ru) m (stolb), коло́нна (ru) f (kolónna)
Sanskrit: स्तम्भ (sa) (stambha), स्थूणा (sa) (sthūṇā)
Scottish Gaelic: colbh m, (rock) carragh f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: стуб m, ступ m, стубац m, ступац m
Roman: stub (sh) m, stup (sh) m, stubac (sh) m, stupac (sh) m
Slovak: pilier m
Slovene: steber (sl) m, slop (sl) m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: słup m
Spanish: pilar (es) m
Swahili: majabali (sw)
Swedish: pelare (sv) c, stöttepelare (sv) c, kolonn (sv) c
Tagalog: haligi
Tahitian: turu, tuturu, arati‘a
Telugu: స్తంభము (te) (stambhamu), స్థూణ (te) (sthūṇa), కంబము (te) (kambamu)
Thai: เสา (th) (sǎo), หลัก (th) (làk)
Turkish: sütun (tr), direk (tr)
Vietnamese: cột (vi)
Yoruba: òpó, òpómúléró
Yucatec Maya: nahil koh :

### Verb

pillar (third-person singular simple present pillars, present participle pillaring, simple past and past participle pillared)
* (transitive) To provide with pillars or added strength as if from pillars.
** 1910, James Morgan, Blast furnace practice:Insufficient penetration, or faulty distribution of the blast, may give rise to "pillaring" — that is, the formation of a pillar or column of cold material extending up through the middle of the hearth
** 1996, National Academy of Engineering, First annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering, page 25:We discovered this new class of compounds in our search for a means of generating porosity by pillaring layered double hydroxides
** 1998, Zhong Lin Wang with Zhen Chuan Kang, Functional and smart materials, page 226:In the pillaring-grafting reaction the dimensionality increases by pillaring the organic or precursory polynuclear metal hydroxyl cations into an inorganic layer structured matrix.
** 2004, Scott M. Auerbach with Kathleen A. Carrado and Prabir K. Dutta, Handbook of layered materials, page 261:It was then that scientists started to create porosity in the interlayer space of layered clays. developing the first pillared clays with pores in the larger microporous region.

### See also

* caterpillar

### Further reading

* “pillar”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “pillar”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “pillar”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* “pillar”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

### Anagrams

* Aprill

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from French piller. The sense of "grab" is from Italian pigliare, either via direct borrowing or through the mediation of Spanish pillar.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [piˈʎa]
* IPA: (Valencia) [piˈʎaɾ]
* Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

### Verb

pillar (first-person singular present pillo, first-person singular preterite pillí, past participle pillat)
* (transitive) to pillage, plunder, loot
* (transitive, colloquial) to snatch, grab
    Synonyms: agafar, prendre

#### Derived terms

* pillada
* pillatge

#### Related terms

* pillard

### Further reading

* “pillar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “pillar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025

## Portuguese
### Noun

pillar m (plural pillares)
* Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of pilar.

## Spanish
### Etymology

Probably borrowed from Italian pigliare or French piller. Compare also Portuguese pilhar and English pillage.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /piˈʝaɾ/ [piˈʝaɾ]
* IPA: (most of Spain and Latin America) /piˈʝaɾ/ [piˈʝaɾ]
* IPA: (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines) /piˈʎaɾ/ [piˈʎaɾ]
* IPA: (Buenos Aires and environs) /piˈʃaɾ/ [piˈʃaɾ]
* IPA: (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /piˈʒaɾ/ [piˈʒaɾ]
* Audio (Colombia):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: pi‧llar

### Verb

pillar (first-person singular present pillo, first-person singular preterite pillé, past participle pillado)
* to catch, get, to grab (e.g. grab a cab, get lunch, grab a drink, catch a movie)
* to pilfer, steal
* (games) to tag
* (colloquial) to get (a joke)
* (colloquial) to catch, to catch up to
* (colloquial) to catch, to pick up, to bust, to nab (someone doing something illegal)
    Synonyms: atrapar, sorprender
* (colloquial) to come down with, catch, to pick up (an illness)
* (colloquial) to pick up on, to take (e.g. information, a hint)
* (Spain, colloquial) to score (e.g. drugs)
* (colloquial, reflexive) to jam (your finger)
    Me pillé el dedo con la puerta.I jammed my finger in the door.
* (colloquial, reflexive) to fall in love, to crush on someone
    Creo que se ha pillado de mí.I think she may have a crush on me.

#### Conjugation

$^1$Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language. $^2$Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

#### Derived terms

* aquí te pillo, aquí te mato
* jugar a pillar (“to play tag”) (Spain)
* pilla pilla
* pillar cacho
* pillar el toro
* pillar una cogorza
* pillarse los dedos
* pillarse un pedo

#### Related terms

* pilla pilla
* pillería
* pillo

#### See also

* agarrar
* asir

### Further reading

* “pillar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Noun

pillar
* indefinite plural of pille

### Verb

pillar
* present indicative of pilla

### Anagrams

* prilla