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py·lon (pīlŏn′)
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n.
1.
a. A movable, brightly colored cone or shaft of rubber that is used to signal something to be avoided, such as a hazard or work zone on a roadway.
b. Football A flexible, usually padded marker that stands upright at each corner of the end zone to facilitate judgments of close plays.
c. A tower marking a turning point in a race among aircraft.
2. A vertical supporting structure, especially:
a. A steel tower supporting high-tension wires.
b. A tower or shaft supporting a wind turbine.
c. A structure supporting a bridge deck.
3.
a. A large structure or group of structures marking an entrance or approach.
b. A monumental gateway in the form of a pair of tapered blocks serving as the entrance to an ancient Egyptian temple.
4. A structure that attaches an aircraft engine to a plane's wing or fuselage.
[Greek pulōn, gateway, from pulē, gate.]
(click for a larger image)
pylon
top: pylon supporting electric power transmission lines
bottom: main entrance to the Temple of Horus
Edfu, Egypt
(click for a larger image)
pylon
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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