Word.ws English Dictionary

stylobate

/ˈstaɪ.lə.beɪt/

stylobate noun: the top step of the crepidoma, i.e. the platform upon which the superstructure of the building is erected.

Noun

stylobate (plural stylobates)

  1. (Classical, Greek) The top step of the crepidoma, i.e. the platform upon which the superstructure of the building is erected.
    • The bases of the columns and the plinths below them appear to be standing on pedestals, but this is only an illusion, for the stylobate [translating Sockel] has been cut through in five places, and through each gap five steps lead up between the columns.1962, JW Goethe, translated by WH Auden and Elizabeth Mayer, Italian Journey, Penguin, published 1970, page 121

Forms of stylobate

pluralstylobates
alternative formstylobata

Origin of stylobate

Borrowed from Latin stylobata, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek στυλοβάτης (stulobátēs), from στῦλος (stûlos, “pillar”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go, to walk”).

Questions about stylobate

What does stylobate mean?
Stylobate means the top step of the crepidoma, i.e. the platform upon which the superstructure of the building is erected.
What part of speech is stylobate?
Stylobate is a noun.
How do you pronounce stylobate?
Stylobate is pronounced /ˈstaɪ.lə.beɪt/.
What is the plural of stylobate?
The plural of stylobate is stylobates.

Words near stylobate in the dictionary

  1. styll
  2. stylo
  3. stylo milo
  4. stylo-
  5. stylobata
  6. stylobate
  7. stylobates
  8. stylocavernula
  9. stylocellid
  10. stylocellids
  11. stylocone

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stylobate (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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