stele
Stele (noun) means an upright stone slab carved or painted with inscriptions or images, especially one surviving from antiquity. Example: “The excavation team uncovered a stele covered in faded hieroglyphs.”
How to use stele
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA stele is either a carved stone slab from ancient times or, in botany, the core running through a plant's stem or root.
This is a specialist term, used mainly in archaeology and botany rather than everyday speech.
The plural is usually steles or stelae, and the word sounds identical to steely.
Trace the full origin ↓Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The excavation team uncovered a _____ covered in faded hieroglyphs.
Etymology
The archaeological sense comes from Ancient Greek stēlē, meaning an upright rock, pillar or column, and is a doublet of the word stela. The botanical sense entered English later, by way of French stèle, which traces back to the same Ancient Greek word.
