pedestal

English

Pedestal

Etymology

From Middle French piédestal, from Italian piedistallo (pie "foot" di "of" stallo "stand") "footstand".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛdɪstəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

pedestal (plural pedestals)

1. (architecture) The base or foot of a column, statue, vase, lamp.
2. (figuratively) A place of reverence or honor.

   He has put his mother on a pedestal. You can't say a word against her.

3. (rail transport) A casting secured to the frame of a truck of a railcar and forming a jaw for holding a journal box.
4. (machining) A pillow block; a low housing.
5. (bridge building) An iron socket, or support, for the foot of a brace at the end of a truss where it rests on a pier.
6. (steam heating) a pedestal coil, group of connected straight pipes arranged side by side and one above another, used in a radiator.
7. (telecommunications) A ground-level housing for a passive connection point for underground cables.
8. (electronics) The measured value when no input signal is given.
9. (aviation) The central part of the cockpit, between the pilots, where various controls are located.

Derived terms

Terms derived from pedestal

• pedestal coil
• pedestal fan

• place / set / put on a pedestal

Translations

the base or foot of a column, statue, vase, lamp, or the like

• Afrikaans: voetstuk, pilaarvoet
• Arabic: عَمُود‎ (ʿamūd), حامِل‎ (ar) (ḥāmil), مِنَصَّة‎ (minaṣṣa)
• Armenian: պատվանդան (hy) (patvandan)
• Basque: idulki
• Belarusian: п'едэста́л m (pʺjedestál)
• Breton: mas (br) m
• Bulgarian: пиедестал (bg) m (piedestal)
• Catalan: pedestal (ca) m, peana (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 台座 (zh) (táizuò), 基座 (zh) (jīzuò), 座子 (zh) (zuòzi)

• Czech: podstavec m, piedestal m
• Danish: sokkel c
• Dutch: voetstuk (nl) n, sokkel (nl) m
• Esperanto: piedestalo (eo)
• Finnish: jalusta (fi)
• French: piédestal (fr) m
• Georgian: კვარცხლბეკი (ḳvarcxlbeḳi), საყრდენი (saq̇rdeni), ფუძე (puʒe), საფუძველი (sapuʒveli)
• German: Sockel (de) m, Podest (de) n, Piedestal (de) n, Postament (de) n, Stand (de) m, Basis (de) f, Ständer (de) m, Gestell (de) n, Untergestell n, Bock (de) m, Auflagebock m, Auflager (de) n, Trägergerüst n, Standfuß m, Stützbock m
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὑπόβαθρα f (hupóbathra), βάθρον n (báthron)

• Hebrew: כַּן‎ (he) m (kan)
• Hungarian: talapzat (hu)

• Ido: piedestalo (io)
• Irish: seastán m
• Italian: piedistallo (it) m
• Japanese: 台座 (ja) (だいざ, daiza)
• Latin: basis (la) f, crepīdō f
• Latvian: pjedestāls m
• Lithuanian: pjedestalas m
• Luxembourgish: Sockel m
• Macedonian: пиедестал m (piedestal)
• Manx: laan
• Norwegian: pidestall m
• Occitan: pèdestal m
• Persian: پایه‎ (fa) (pāye)
• Polish: piedestał (pl) m, postument (pl) m
• Portuguese: pedestal (pt) m
• Romanian: piedestal (ro) n
• Russian: пьедеста́л (ru) m (pʹjedestál), постаме́нт (ru) m (postamént), цо́коль (ru) m (cókolʹ)
• Slovak: podstavec m, piedestál m
• Slovene: podstávek m
• Spanish: pedestal (es) m, peana (es) f
• Swedish: piedestal (sv) c
• Thai: แท่น (th) (tɛ̂n)
• Turkish: ayaklık (tr), duraç (tr), kaide (tr), taban (tr), oturtak
• Ukrainian: п'єдестал m (pʺjedestal)
• Vietnamese: bệ (vi)

Verb

pedestal (third-person singular simple present pedestals, present participle pedestaling, simple past and past participle pedestaled)

1. To set or support on (or as if on) a pedestal.

References

• pedestals on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• “pedestal” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “pedestal” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “pedestal”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• depetals, pleadest, step deal, telepads

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Catalan

Etymology

From Italian piedestallo.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /pə.dəsˈtal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /pe.desˈtal/

Noun

pedestal m (plural pedestals)

1. (architecture) pedestal (the base or foot of a column, statue, vase, lamp, or the like)
2. (figuratively) pedestal (a place of reverence or honor)

Synonyms

• (base of a structure): peanya, repeu

Further reading

• “pedestal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): (Brazil) /pe.desˈtaw/, [pe.desˈtaʊ̯]

• IPA^(key): (Brazil) /pe.desˈtaw/, [pe.desˈtaʊ̯]
  • IPA^(key): (Rio de Janeiro) /pe.deʃˈtaw/, [pe.deʃˈtaʊ̯]

• IPA^(key): (Portugal) /pɨ.dɨʃˈtal/, [pɨ.ðɨʃˈtaɫ]

• Hyphenation: pe‧des‧tral
• Rhymes: -al, -aw

Noun

pedestal m (plural pedestais)

1. (architecture) pedestal (the base or foot of a column, statue, vase, lamp, or the like)
2. (figuratively) pedestal (a place of reverence or honor)

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pedesˈtal/, [pe.ð̞esˈt̪al]

Noun

pedestal m (plural pedestales)

1. (architecture) pedestal (the base or foot of a column, statue, vase, lamp, or the like)
2. (figuratively) pedestal (a place of reverence or honor)

Further reading

• “pedestal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014