monolith
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
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Language
English
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "monolith", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "monolith" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "monolith" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
monolith is aEnglishnoun. It means: A large, single block of stone which is a natural feature; or a block of stone or other similar material used in architecture and sculpture, especially one carved into a monument in ancient times. Pronounced /ˈmɒn.ə.lɪθ/. Often confused with monolithic.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | monolith |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɒn.ə.lɪθ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #36,678 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for monolith is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɒn.ə.lɪθ/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,678 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 12 documented wrong-spelling variants for monolith, with forms such as "mmonolith", "mnoolith", and "monloith". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "monolithic", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is borrowed from French monolithe (“object made from a single block of stone”), from Middle French monolythe (“made from a single block of stone”) (rare), and from their etymon Latin monolithus (“made from a single block of stone”), from Ancient Gr… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is monolith, spelled M-O-N-O-L-I-T-H, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A large, single block of stone which is a natural feature; or a block of stone or other similar material used in architecture and sculpture, especially one carved into a monument in ancient times.
- 2Anything massive, uniform, and unmovable, especially a towering and impersonal cultural, political, or social organization or structure.
- 3A substrate having many tiny channels that is cast as a single piece, which is used as a stationary phase for chromatography, as a catalytic surface, etc.
- 4A dead tree whose height and size have been reduced by breaking off or cutting its branches.
Etymology
The noun is borrowed from French monolithe (“object made from a single block of stone”), from Middle French monolythe (“made from a single block of stone”) (rare), and from their etymon Latin monolithus (“made from a single block of stone”), from Ancient Greek μονόλιθος (monólithos, “made from a single block of stone”), from μονο- (mono-, prefix meaning ‘alone; single’) (from μόνος (mónos, “alone; only, unique”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“little, small”)) + λίθος (líthos, “a stone; stone as a substance”); analysable as mono- + -lith. The English word is cognate with German monolith (“made from a single block of stone”). The verb is derived from the noun.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmonolith,mnoolith,monloith,monnolith,monoilth,monoliht,monolithh,monolitth,monollith,monoltih,moonlith,omnolith
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for monolith
Misspelling Variants of "monolith"
Frequency rank: #36,678 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter M in our English index: