Word.ws English Dictionary

stylite

UK/ˈstʌɪlʌɪt/US/ˈstaɪlaɪt/

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stylite noun: a Christian ascetic in ancient times who lived alone on top of a tall pillar.

stylite: a Christian ascetic in ancient times who lived alone on top of a tall pillar
Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

stylite (plural stylites)

  1. (historical) A Christian ascetic in ancient times who lived alone on top of a tall pillar.
    • Daniel, the famous stylite of the city, actually descended from his pillar for the first time in fifteen years, terrifying Basiliscus into the withdrawal of his edict.1997, John Julius Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium, Penguin, published 1998, page 53
    • Stylites often became major players in Church politics, shouting down their theological pronouncements from their little elevated balconies to the expectant crowds below, or giving personalized advice to those favoured enough to climb the ladder and join them on their platform.2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 208
    Synonyms:
    pillar-saint, pillarist

stylite meaning in Tamil

stylite in Tamil

கந்து முனிவர்

Synonyms of stylite

Forms of stylite

pluralstylites

Origin of stylite

From Ecclesiastical Greek στυλίτης (stulítēs), from Ancient Greek στῦλος (stûlos, “pillar”).

Words formed from stylite

Questions about stylite

What does stylite mean?
Stylite means a Christian ascetic in ancient times who lived alone on top of a tall pillar.
What is stylite in Tamil?
Stylite in Tamil is கந்து முனிவர். See Stylite meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is stylite?
Stylite is a noun.
How do you pronounce stylite?
Stylite is pronounced /ˈstʌɪlʌɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of stylite?
The plural of stylite is stylites.

Words near stylite in the dictionary

  1. stylistically
  2. stylistician
  3. stylisticians
  4. stylistics
  5. stylists
  6. stylite
  7. stylites
  8. stylitic
  9. stylitism
  10. stylization
  11. stylizations

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stylite (page history and authors); stylite (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-ncalif-styylite.ogg.

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