different between catacomb vs pyramid

English

Etymology

From Old English [Term?], from Late Latin catacumbas, name of the underground cemetery of St. Sebastian in Rome, dissimilation of Latin cata- (“among”) (from Ancient Greek ???? (katá, “under”)) + tumbas (from Ancient Greek ?????? (túmbos, “swell”)).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?kat??k??m/ (less commonly) IPA^(key): /?kat?ku?m/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?kætako?m/, /?kæt?ku?m/

Noun

catacomb (plural catacombs)

1. (often plural) An underground system of tunnels and chambers with recesses for graves, used (in former times) as a cemetery; a tunnel system used for burying the dead, as in Paris or Ancient Rome.

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• piramis, pyramis (obsolete)

Etymology

From French pyramide, from Old French piramide, from Latin p?ramis, p?ramidis, from Ancient Greek ??????? (p?ramís), possibly from ????? (p?rós, “wheat”) + ???? (amá?, “reap”) or from Egyptian pr-m-ws (“height of a pyramid”), from pr (“(one that) comes forth”) + m (“from”) + ws (“height”). Schenkel and K. Lang proposed hypothetical Coptic ????? (piram) or ???? (phram) derived from Egyptian mr via metathesis as a source of ??????? (p?ramís) while Schenkel also suggested it being the source of Arabic ???? although the latter is considered far-fetched by Takacs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p???m?d/

Noun

pyramid (countable and uncountable, plural pyramids)

1. An ancient massive construction with a square or rectangular base and four triangular sides meeting in an apex, such as those built as tombs in Egypt or as bases for temples in Mesoamerica.
2. A construction in the shape of a pyramid, usually with a square or rectangular base.
3. (geometry) A solid with triangular lateral faces and a polygonal (often square or rectangular) base.
4. (neuroanatomy) A medullary pyramid, the medial-most bumps on the ventral side of the medulla oblongata
5. (Britain, dated) The game of pool in which the balls are placed in the form of a triangle at spot.
6. A pyramid scheme.
7. (card games, uncountable) Alternative letter-case form of Pyramid. (a solitaire card game)
8. (card games) The triangular layout of cards in the game of Pyramid.

9. (journalism) An approximately triangular headline consisting of several centered lines of text of increasing length.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:pyramid.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Ponzi scheme

Verb

pyramid (third-person singular simple present pyramids, present participle pyramiding, simple past and past participle pyramided)

1. To build up or be arranged in the form of a pyramid.
2. (transitive, genetics) To combine (a series of genes) into a single genotype.
3. (intransitive) To employ, or take part in, a pyramid scheme.
4. (finance) To engage in pyramid trading.
   • 2002, Alexander Elder, Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading (page 152)

     Multiply this by the number of shares you traded, and add other positions if you pyramided.

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -i?d

Noun

pyramid c

1. (geometry) pyramid
2. Pyramid-shaped construction.

Declension

Related terms

• pyramidspel

See also

• pyramidal

Welsh

Alternative forms

• puramid

Etymology

From English pyramid, from French pyramide, from Old French piramide, from Latin p?ramis, p?ramidis, from Ancient Greek ??????? (p?ramís).

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /?p??ram?d/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /?p?ram?d/

Usage notes

Being a word borrowed from English derived from Greek, the y in pyramid is pronounced /??, ?/ rather than expected /?/. To preserve consistency between pronunciation and spelling, some prefer to spell this word puramid. Nevertheless, pyramid is the more common spelling of the two. See symbol/sumbol, synthesis/sunthesis, system/sustem for similar examples.

Noun

pyramid m (plural pyramidau)

1. pyramid

Derived terms

• pyramidaidd (“pyramidal”)

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “pyramid”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies