Meanings
pillar1
plural pillars
- architectureA large post, often used as supporting architecture.
- Something resembling such a structure.
a pillar of smoke
- figurativelyAn essential part of something that provides support.
He's a pillar of the community.
2 more examples
In the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972, we recognized the fact that both Beijing and Taipei viewed Taiwan as part of China but unequivocally expressed our support for a peaceful settlement of the unification issue. While we should not alter the fundamental pillars of our policy, we should consider certain steps that will raise Taiwan's international standing.
1992, Richard Nixon, “The Pacific Triangle”, in Seize the Moment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 181Star Trek is one of the pillars of modern entertainment.
2016, Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea, spoken by CJ (Christian Mallen) - CatholicismA portable ornamental column, formerly carried before a cardinal, as emblematic of his support to the church.
two laye-men secular eache of theym holdynge a pillar In their hondes, steade of a mace
a. 1529, John Skelton, a poem - geographyA vertical, often spire-shaped, natural rock formation.
present singular third person pillars · participle present pillaring · participle past pillared · past pillared
- transitiveTo provide with pillars or added strength as if from pillars.
We discovered this new class of compounds in our search for a means of generating porosity by pillaring layered double hydroxides
1996, National Academy of Engineering, First annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering, page 253 more examples
Insufficient penetration, or faulty distribution of the blast, may give rise to "pillaring" — that is, the formation of a pillar or column of cold material extending up through the middle of the hearth
1910, James Morgan, Blast furnace practiceIn the pillaring-grafting reaction the dimensionality increases by pillaring the organic or precursory polynuclear metal hydroxyl cations into an inorganic layer structured matrix.
1998, Zhong Lin Wang with Zhen Chuan Kang, Functional and smart materials, page 226It was then that scientists started to create porosity in the interlayer space of layered clays. developing the first pillared clays with pores in the larger microporous region.
2004, Scott M. Auerbach with Kathleen A. Carrado and Prabir K. Dutta, Handbook of layered materials, page 261
Pillar2
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument)
noun(architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpila“a pillar, pier, mole”
- Vulgar Latin*pilāre“a pillar”
- Old Frenchpilier
- Middle Englishpiler
- Englishpillar
From Middle English piler, from Old French pilier, from Medieval Latin or Vulgar Latin *pilāre (“a pillar”), from Latin pila (“a pillar, pier, mole”). Displaced native Old English sweor (“pillar, column”) and Old English stapol.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Vulgar Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek στῦλος, κίων
- στῦλος (stûlos)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- κίων (kíōn)large post, often used as supporting architecture
Arabic عمود
- عمودlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Bulgarian стълб, колона
- стълб (stălb)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- колона (kolona)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- стълб (stălb)essential part of something
Catalan pilar
- pilarlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Chinese Mandarin 柱子, 支柱
- 柱子 (zhùzi)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- 支柱 (zhīzhù)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- 棟樑 /栋梁 (dòngliáng)essential part of something
- 中流砥柱 (zhōngliúdǐzhù)essential part of something
Czech pilíř
- pilířlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Danish søjle
- søjlelarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Dutch pijler, zuil
- pijlerlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- zuillarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- pilaarlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Esperanto piliero
- pilierolarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Finnish pylväs, pilari
- pylväslarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- pilarilarge post, often used as supporting architecture
French pilier, pile
- pilierlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- pilelarge post, often used as supporting architecture
German Pfeiler, Säule
- Pfeilerlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- Säulelarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Greek στυλοβάτης, κολώνα
- στυλοβάτης (stylovátis)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- κολώνα (kolóna)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- στύλος (stýlos)large post, often used as supporting architecture
Hawaiian kia, kulu
- kialarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- kulularge post, often used as supporting architecture
Hebrew עמוד
- עמוד ('amúd)large post, often used as supporting architecture
Hindi स्तंभ, खंभा
- स्तंभ (stambh)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- खंभा (khambhā)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- आधार (ādhār)essential part of something
Hungarian oszlop, pillér
- oszloplarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- pillérlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Indonesian pilar, tiang
- pilarlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- tianglarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Irish piléar
- piléarlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Italian pilastro, chiave di volta
- pilastrolarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- chiave di voltaessential part of something
Japanese 柱
- 柱 (hashira)large post, often used as supporting architecture
Korean 기둥
- 기둥 (gidung)large post, often used as supporting architecture
Latin columna
- columnalarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Lithuanian piliorius
- pilioriuslarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Malay tiang, turus
- tianglarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- turuslarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Māori turu, pou
- turularge post, often used as supporting architecture
- poularge post, often used as supporting architecture
- himularge post, often used as supporting architecture
- pou whirinaki(figuratively) An essential part of something, or a person, that provides physical, spiritual, moral support
Norwegian Bokmål søyle
- søylelarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Persian ستون, رکن
- ستون (sotun)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- رکن (rokn)essential part of something
Polish filar, słup
- filarlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- słuplarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- filaressential part of something
- podstawaessential part of something
Portuguese pilar
- pilarlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Romanian stâlp
- stâlplarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Russian столб, коло́нна
- столб (stolb)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- коло́нна (kolónna)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- опло́т (oplót)essential part of something
- опо́ра (opóra)essential part of something
Scottish Gaelic colbh, carragh
- colbhlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- carraghlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Slovak pilier
- pilierlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Spanish pilar
- pilarlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Swahili majabali
- majabalilarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Swedish pelare, stöttepelare
- pelarelarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- stöttepelarelarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- kolonnlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Tagalog haligi
- haligilarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Thai เสา, หลัก
- เสา (sǎo)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- หลัก (làk)large post, often used as supporting architecture
- หลัก (làk)essential part of something
Turkish sütun, direk
- sütunlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- direklarge post, often used as supporting architecture
- direkessential part of something
Vietnamese cột
- cộtlarge post, often used as supporting architecture
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pillar
Cite this entry
pillar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pillar
“pillar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pillar. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pillar,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pillar.
Source: pillar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.