An obelisk (/ˈɒbəlɪsk/; from Ancient Greekὀβελίσκος (obelískos),[2][3]diminutive of ὀβελός (obelós) 'spit, nail, pointed pillar')[4] is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top.[5] Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called tekhenu, the Greeks used the Greek term obeliskos to describe them, and this word passed into Latin and ultimately English.[6] Though William Thomas used the term correctly in his Historie of Italie of 1549, by the late sixteenth century (after reduced contact with Italy following the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth), Shakespeare failed to distinguish between pyramids and obelisks in his plays and sonnets.[7] Ancient obelisks are monolithic and consist of a single stone; most modern obelisks are made of several stones.[8]
^Random House (2005). Random House Webster's college dictionary. Random House Reference, New York. p. 847. ISBN9780375426001. 1.n. a tapering, four-sided shaft of stone, usu. monolithic and having a pyramidal apex.
^Edward Chaney,' "Thy pyramyds buylt up with newer might":Shakespeare and the Cultural Memory of Ancient Egypt' Aegyptiaca. Journal of the History of Reception of Ancient Egypt (5), 263–344 [1]