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# stele

noun (a stele, stelae or steles)

«stele» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (history) An upright stone slab or pillar with writing or carvings on it, put up as a monument, gravestone or to record laws or events. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stele/#m1)
2. (science, botany) The central core of a plant's root or stem, which carries water and food. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stele/#m2)

### In the lessons

In history lessons about ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Maya and China, stelae recorded laws, victories and names of rulers; Hammurabi's law code is carved on a stele, and the Rosetta Stone is part of a stele. In older pupils' biology, the stele carries water through a root.

### Examples

- Hammurabi's laws were carved on a tall black stele. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stele/#x1)
- The Rosetta Stone is a broken piece of a stele. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stele/#x2)
- The Maya put up stelae to honour their kings. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stele/#x3)
- The stele marks the grave of an ancient soldier. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stele/#x4)
- We saw a carved stele in the British Museum. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stele/#x5)
- The archaeologists cleaned the stele to read the old writing. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stele/#x6)

### Note

Say «STEE-lee» (two syllables). Plural «stelae» (STEE-lee) or «steles». Do not mix up with «steel» (metal) or «steal» (take).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «stele» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stele/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«stele» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/stele.html) on Mova free.