Meanings
plural stylobates · alternative stylobata
- ClassicalGreekarchitectureThe top step of the crepidoma, i.e. the platform upon which the superstructure of the building is erected.
The bases of the columns and the plinths below them appear to be standing on pedestals, but this is only an illusion, for the stylobate [translating Sockel] has been cut through in five places, and through each gap five steps lead up between the columns.
1962, JW Goethe, translated by WH Auden and Elizabeth Mayer, Italian Journey, Penguin, published 1970, page 121
Origin
- Ancient Greekστυλοβάτης
- Latinstylobata
- Englishstylobate
Borrowed from Latin stylobata, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek στυλοβάτης (stulobátēs), from στῦλος (stûlos, “pillar”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go, to walk”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan estilòbata
- estilòbatatop step of the crepidoma
Chinese Mandarin 柱座
- 柱座 (zhùzuò)top step of the crepidoma
Finnish stylobaatti
- stylobaattitop step of the crepidoma
French stylobate
- stylobatetop step of the crepidoma
German Stylobat
- Stylobattop step of the crepidoma
Greek στυλοβάτης
- στυλοβάτης (stylovátis)top step of the crepidoma
Hungarian sztülobatész
- sztülobatésztop step of the crepidoma
Portuguese estilóbata
- estilóbatatop step of the crepidoma
Spanish estilóbato
- estilóbatotop step of the crepidoma
Cite this entry
stylobate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stylobate
“stylobate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stylobate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stylobate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stylobate.
Source: stylobate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.