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mausoleum

noun

  1. monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people
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Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˌmɔː.zəˈliː.əm/ / /ˌmɔ.səˈli.əm/ / /-.zəˈ-/

name

Etymology: Borrowed from Latin Mausōlēum, from Ancient Greek Μαυσωλεῖον (Mausōleîon), from Μαύσωλος (Maúsōlos, “Mausolus”) + -εῖον (-eîon, noun-forming suffix meaning “place or building associated with a specific purpose or person”). By surface analysis, Mausolus + -eum.

  1. The grand tomb built around 353–351 BCE at Halicarnassus for Mausolus, a ruler of Caria and satrap of the Achaemenid Empire; one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

    Phileus, an eminent Ionian architect, built the Mausoleum, in conjunction with Satyrus, and the temple of Athena Polias, at Priene. The date of the erection of the Mausoleum was soon after B.C. 353, the year in which Mausolus died; that of the temple at Priene must have been about 20 years later.

    Because of its status as a wonder of the world, the Mausoleum was admired by Vitruvius and Strabo and described with measurements by the elder Pliny.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English mausoleum, from Latin Mausōlēum, from Ancient Greek Μαυσωλεῖον (Mausōleîon, “Mausoleum, the grand tomb built around 353–351 BCE at Halicarnassus for Mausolus, a ruler of Caria and satrap of the Achaemenid Empire; one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”), from Μαύσωλος (Maúsōlos, “Mausolus”) + -εῖον (-eîon, noun-forming suffix meaning “place or building associated with a specific purpose or person”). By surface analysis, Mausolus + -eum.

  1. A large stately tomb or a building housing such a tomb or several tombs.

    Holonym: cemetery

  2. A gloomy, usually large room or building.

    As Amazon reaches maximum ubiquity in our lives (“Alexa, play Led Zeppelin”), as online shopping turns malls into mausoleums, it’s been illuminating to see exactly how a package makes the final leg of its journey.