pyramid

The word “pyramid” means a large structure with a square base and four triangular sides meeting at a point, especially the ancient Egyptian tombs. In plain terms, a four-sided pointed structure, most famously the ancient Egyptian monuments, or a dishonest investment scheme built the same shape.

“Pyramid” is pronounced PIHR-uh-mihd (/ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/ in IPA).

Here is “pyramid” used in a sentence: “They visited the Great Pyramid of Giza on their trip to Egypt.”

Depending on how it is used, “pyramid” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “pyramid” comes from Greek. From Greek pūramís, possibly linked to a word for wheat cake, or possibly from an ancient Egyptian phrase meaning "height of a pyramid.".

“Pyramid” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Pyramid” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a large structure with a square base and four triangular sides meeting at a point, especially the ancient Egyptian tombs.

A pyramid, in its literal sense, is a large structure with a square base and triangular sides meeting at a point, like the ancient Egyptian tombs. A pyramid scheme is unrelated to architecture and instead describes a fraudulent business model where early investors are paid using money from new recruits rather than genuine profit.

It is called a pyramid scheme because the structure of recruitment resembles a pyramid shape, with a small number of people at the top and an ever-widening base of new recruits below. Money flows upward from new participants to earlier ones, rather than coming from real sales or profit.

As a verb, "pyramid" means to build up or arrange something into a pyramid-like shape or structure, with a wide base narrowing toward a point. It can describe stacking physical objects or organizing something in a tiered, escalating way.