pyramid
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɪɹəmɪd/
note: Indic
ipa: /p(ɪ)rəˈmɪɖ/
Forms: form: pyramids
form: piramis
form: pyramis
Etymology: From French pyramide, from Old French piramide, from Latin pȳramis, pȳramidis, from Ancient Greek πῡραμίς (pūramís), possibly from πῡρός (pūrós, “wheat”) + ἀμάω (amáō, “reap”) or from Egyptian pr-m-ws (“height of a pyramid”), from pr (“(one that) comes forth”) + m (“from”) + ws (“height”). Schenkel and K. Lang proposed hypothetical Coptic *ⲡⲓⲣⲁⲙ (*piram) or *ⲫⲣⲁⲙ (*phram) derived from Egyptian mr via metathesis as a source of πῡραμίς (pūramís) while Schenkel also suggested it being the source of Arabic هَرَم (haram) although the latter is considered far-fetched by Takacs.
Senses: glosses: An ancient massive construction with a square or rectangular base and four triangular sides meeting in an apex, such as those built as tombs in Egypt or as bases for temples in Mesoamerica.
examples: text: [T]he owners of Doddington Hall, in Lincolnshire, have brought the folly into the 21st century, by building a 30ft pyramid in the grounds of the Elizabethan manor.
ref: 2014 September 7, “Doddington's garden pyramid is a folly good show: The owners of a Lincolnshire stately home have brought the folly into the 21st century, by building a 30ft pyramid [print edition: Great pyramid of Lincolnshire, 6 September 2014, p. G2]”, in The Daily Telegraph, London:
glosses: A construction in the shape of a pyramid, usually with a square or rectangular base.
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: A solid with triangular lateral faces and a polygonal (often square or rectangular) base.
examples: text: The company was organized as a pyramid, with a CEO in charge of four directors, each heading up a department.
text: They sit looking at the empty plate that had held a pyramid of sesame cakes. They have eaten them all.
ref: 1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 63:
text: A telephone pyramid is now being formed to fill this need. Once a representative group of community people decide a crisis exists […] a list of people will be called, who in turn will call a small number of others from a list already in their possession. This process continues untill as much of the community as possible has been notified. The numbers will be kept in strict confidence, with no one other than the organizers having the entire list. Individual callers will only have a few names and numbers.
ref: 1973 August 18, “Gay [drawing of a pyramid (sense 1)]”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 9, page 1:
text: From there he headed down the leagues, but his love of the game trumped any pride about where he 'ought' to be playing as he racked up more than 1,000 games across the full length of the English pyramid.
ref: (Can we date this quote?), Flora Snelson, “Cureton, 50, scores in 10th tier to 'complete football'”, in BBC:
glosses: Any structure or diagram with many members at the bottom and progressively fewer towards the top.
topics: anatomy
medicine
neuroanatomy
neurology
neuroscience
sciences
glosses: A medullary pyramid, the medial-most bumps on the ventral side of the medulla oblongata
glosses: The game of pool in which the balls are placed in the form of a triangle at spot.
glosses: A pyramid scheme.
topics: card-games
games
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of Pyramid. (a solitaire card game)
examples: text: Build your pyramid with all cards face down, except the cards in the bottom row.
topics: card-games
games
glosses: The triangular layout of cards in the game of Pyramid.
examples: text: […] with a cross-line banner, a set of two-column pyramids beneath it in the middle, and on each side of these exactly the same thing,—something between a headline and a story—"$50,000 Reward for—" etc.
ref: 1924, Helen Ogden Mahin, The Development and Significance of the Newspaper Headline:
topics: journalism
media
glosses: An approximately triangular headline consisting of several centered lines of text of increasing length.
Derived terms: beeramid
bipyramid
demipyramid
dipyramid
earth pyramid
ecological pyramid
food pyramid
Freytag's pyramid
Gaussian pyramid
hemipyramid
human pyramid
hyperpyramid
inverted pyramid
Laplacian pyramid
macropyramid
nanopyramid
oblique pyramid
population pyramid
pyramidal
pyramid billiards
pyramid down
pyramid elimia
pyramid hip roof
pyramidic
pyramidical
pyramid inch
pyramidiot
pyramidism
pyramidist
pyramidization
pyramidize
Pyramid Lake
pyramidlike
pyramid of doom
pyramidoid
pyramidologist
pyramidology
pyramid piano
pyramid pool
pyramid roof
pyramid scheme
pyramid seller
pyramid selling
pyramid sight
pyramidwise
renal pyramid
Russian pyramid
square pyramid
steerable pyramid
stepped pyramid
step pyramid
triangular pyramid
Related terms: Ponzi scheme