pyramid

/ˈpɪɹ.ə.məd/UK/ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/

pyramid noun: 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. Also the alternative letter-case form of Pyramid.

Image: Ricardo Liberato, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

pyramid (countable and uncountable, plural pyramids)

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.
A construction in the shape of a pyramid, usually with a square or rectangular base.
- [T]he owners of Doddington Hall, in Lincolnshire, have brought the folly into the 21st century, by building a 30ft pyramid in the grounds of the Elizabethan manor.2014 September 7, “Doddington's garden pyramid is a folly good show: The owners of a Lincolnshire stately home have brought the folly into the 21st century, by building a 30ft pyramid [print edition...
A solid with triangular lateral faces and a polygonal (often square or rectangular) base.
(broadly) Any structure or diagram with many members at the bottom and progressively fewer towards the top.
- The company was organized as a pyramid, with a CEO in charge of four directors, each heading up a department.
- They sit looking at the empty plate that had held a pyramid of sesame cakes. They have eaten them all.1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 63
A medullary pyramid, the medial-most bumps on the ventral side of the medulla oblongata
(UK, dated) The game of pool in which the balls are placed in the form of a triangle at spot.
A pyramid scheme.
The triangular layout of cards in the game of Pyramid.
- Build your pyramid with all cards face down, except the cards in the bottom row.
An approximately triangular headline consisting of several centered lines of text of increasing length.
- […] with a cross-line banner, a set of two-column pyramids beneath it in the middle, and on each side of these exactly the same thing,—something between a headline and a story—"$50,000 Reward for—" etc.1924, Helen Ogden Mahin, The Development and Significance of the Newspaper Headline

Verb

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

To build up or be arranged in the form of a pyramid.
- The paint was stacked in neatly pyramided lots along the concrete floor.1952, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin Books (2014), page 198
- Once there was an enormous jukebox; the then-Harlettes (her three-woman back-up vocalists/dancers/mimes) pyramided to drop a huge coin, and around the bend of the big record would spin the diva.1983 April 9, Walta Borawski, “Midler in Boston”, in Gay Community News, page 12
(transitive) To combine (a series of genes) into a single genotype.
(intransitive) To employ, or take part in, a pyramid scheme.
To engage in pyramid trading.
- Multiply this by the number of shares you traded, and add other positions if you pyramided.2002, Alexander Elder, Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading, page 152
(dated) To increase to or towards a peak.

Proper noun capitalized: Pyramid

Pyramid

A solitaire card game where the cards are arranged as a triangle (a "pyramid") and the object is to get the cards from the bottom to the top.

Also used as

pyramid is also the alternative letter-case form of Pyramid.

pyramid meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

pyramid in Hindi

ancient construction: पिरमिड pirmiḍ, पिरामिड pirāmiḍ, पीरामिड pīrāmiḍ, अहराम ahrām
in geometry, a solid with triangular lateral faces and a polygonal base: पिरैमिड piraimiḍ

pyramid in Tamil

பிரமிடு, பிரமிட்

pyramid in Marathi

ancient construction: मनोरा manorā
construction: मनोरा manorā
in geometry, a solid with triangular lateral faces and a polygonal base: मनोरा manorā

pyramid in Urdu

ancient construction: اَہْرام ahrām, پِرامِڈ pirāmiḍ, پِرْمِڈ pirmiḍ, ہَرَم haram

More languagesFewer languages

pyramid in Bengali: পিরামিড piramiḍ
pyramid in Telugu: పిరమిడ్, పిరమిడు
pyramid in Malayalam: പിരമിഡ്
pyramid in Kannada: ಪಿರಮಿಡ್, ಪಿರಾಮಿಡ್
pyramid in Punjabi: ਪਿਰਾਮਿਡ, ਪਿਰਾਮਿੱਡ
pyramid in Gujarati: પિરામિડ, પિરામીડ, પિરામિડની
pyramid in Odia: ପିରାମିଡ଼ pirāmiṛa
pyramid in Sanskrit: सूचि sūci
pyramid in Sinhala: පිරමිඩ piramiḍa
pyramid in Pashto: هرم herám
pyramid in Tagalog: tagilo
pyramid in Arabic: هَرَم haram, أَهْرَام ʔahrām
pyramid in Malay: piramid
pyramid in Indonesian: piramida, piramid, limas
pyramid in Thai: พีระมิด pii-rá-mít
pyramid in Vietnamese: kim tự tháp
pyramid in Myanmar: ပိရမစ် pi.ra.mac
Sindhi: اهرام ahrām

Examples of pyramid in a sentence

The pyramids of Egypt have been around for a long time.
Of the Ancient Wonders, only the pyramids have passed the test of time.
Pyramid schemes tend to generate profits for a while and then collapse.

All 40 example sentences with pyramid

Forms of pyramid

Noun
plural	pyramids
alternative form (obsolete)	piramis
alternative form (obsolete)	pyramis
Verb
third-person singular present	pyramids
present participle	pyramiding
past participle	pyramided
past	pyramided
Proper noun
alternative form	pyramid

Plural of pyramid: pyramids

Origin of pyramid

From French pyramide, from Old French piramide, from Latin pȳramis, pȳramidis, from Ancient Greek πῡραμίς (pūramís), possibly from πῡρός (pūrós, “wheat”) + ἀμάω (amáō, “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 *ⲡⲓⲣⲁⲙ (*piram) or *ⲫⲣⲁⲙ (*phram) derived from Egyptian mr via metathesis as a source of πῡραμίς (pūramís) while Schenkel also suggested it being the source of Arabic هَرَم (haram) although the latter is considered far-fetched by Takacs.

Words formed from pyramid

Phrases with pyramid

Questions about pyramid

What does pyramid mean?: Pyramid means 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.
What is pyramid in Hindi?: Pyramid in Hindi is पिरमिड (pirmiḍ), पिरामिड (pirāmiḍ), पीरामिड (pīrāmiḍ). See Pyramid meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is pyramid?: Pyramid can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce pyramid?: Pyramid is pronounced /ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/ (UK).
What is the plural of pyramid?: The plural of pyramid is pyramids.

Words near pyramid in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: pyramid (page history and authors); Pyramid (page history and authors); pyramid (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pyramid (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pyramid (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pyramid (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pyramid (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pyramid (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pyramid.ogg.

Cite this entry: “pyramid.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pyramid. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.