μονόλιθος

Forms

μονόλῐθος (monólithos) m or f (neuter μονόλῐθον); second declension^[1] Ionic μουνόλιθος (mounólithos).^[2][1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek μονο- (mono-, “single”) + λίθος (líthos, “stone”), “made of a single stone”.^[1][3][4] The first part is the combining form of μόνος (mónos, “alone, single”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus has the Ionic form μουνόλιθος of a chamber cut from one block of stone.^[2][7][8]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed an adjective in Greek, used of objects hewn from one block: Diodorus Siculus speaks of single-stone obelisks and Strabo of single-stone columns.^[2][3] Josephus uses it, and in the Shepherd of Hermas a tower is built as if of one stone.^[9][8]

In medieval Greek the masculine came to be used as a noun for a large block of stone, and it served as a place name.^[10] Modern Greek keeps μονόλιθος (monólithos) as a noun, a great block of stone in one piece, and as an adjective.^[11][12][13] Latin borrowed the adjective as Latin monolithus, the source of French monolithe and of English monolith (1829).^[14][1]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus describes a chamber made of a single stone.^[2][8]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus applies it to obelisks, and Strabo to columns.^[2][3]
• 1st century AD – Josephus uses the word in his histories.^[9][8]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses the masculine as a noun for a large stone in one piece.^[10]
• 1829 – English takes up monolith for a monument made of one block, through French and Latin.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Made of a single stone, monolithic.^[2][9][3]

Related words

• Latin monolithus
• English monolith

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
5. ^ Bailly, Anatole (1901), Abrégé du dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
8. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
12. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
13. ^ Πολυλεξικό, in the encyclopedia Επιστήμη και Ζωή, Athens
14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com