trilithon

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English[edit]

A trilithon at Stonehenge
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Etymology[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈtɹaɪ.lɪ.θɔn/

Noun[edit]

trilithon (plural trilithons or trilitha)

  1. A structure consisting of two stone pillars supporting a horizontal stone.
    • 1846, Edward Duke, The Druidical Temples of the County of Wilts, page 158:
      [] thus the two opposite trilithons which are nearest to the north-west or grand entrance, were 19 feet in height, the two next opposite trilithons correspond in the height of 20 feet 3 inches, and the trilithon at the back of the stone of astronomic observation, or as erringly called the Altar-stone, raised its ascent to the astonishing height of 25 feet.
    • 1983, Hans van der Laan, Architectonic Space: Fifteen Lessons on the Disposition of the Human Habitat, page 193:
      The two trilithons forming the wall on each side of the cella therefore pass on the mutual neighbourhood to each other, despite the fact that they are set a slight distance apart. But owing to the oblique placing of the pair of trilithons nearest the head-end the spread is greatly reduced on that side; the head-trilithon stands at the exact spot where it ceases.
    • 2007, Brad Olsen, Sacred Places Europe: 108 Destinations, Consortium of Collective Consciousness, page 45:
      Within the sarsen circle are the five impressive trilithons, forming a horseshoe-shaped ring of huge stones.
    • 2009, John Beer, Romanticism, Revolution and Language: The Fate of the Word from Samuel Johnson to George Eliot, Cambridge University Press, page 84:
      [] whereas the four-square gallows would have been more likely to suggest to his contemporary Blake, who normally used symbolism for its own sake, a resemblance to one of the four-square trilitha at Stonehenge.

Synonyms[edit]

  • (two stone pillars supporting a third stone): trilith

Meronyms[edit]

See also[edit]