cippus means A small, low pillar, square or round, commonly having an inscription, used by the ancients for various purposes, as for indicating the distances of places, for a landmark, for sepulchral inscriptions, etc. It carries an Arena rating of 1410, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cippus ranks #643 of 13,217 for Most Exacting Words, #2,359 of 13,217 for Scariest Words, #2,695 of 13,217 for Most Elegant Words, #2,791 of 13,217 for Most Vivid Words.
cippus is pronounced /ˈsɪ.pəs/.
Why “cippus” is a great word
A low, often inscribed stone pillar used in the ancient world as a grave marker, boundary stone, or milestone. From the Latin *cippus* ("stake, post"). First attested in English circa 1615–25. Unlike a stele, which stands tall and sculpted, or a milestone, which denotes only distance, a cippus is a squat, functional block of stone, its purpose declared solely by the text cut into its face. It is the worn limestone at the field's edge, the plain marker in the roadside grass, the unadorned name in the necropolis—a testament to the Roman genius for reducing the profound concepts of property, journey, and memory to simple, permanent coordinates.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin cippus (“stake, post”). Doublet of cep.
noun
- A small, low pillar, square or round, commonly having an inscription, used by the ancients for various purposes, as for indicating the distances of places, for a landmark, for sepulchral inscriptions, etc.“[…]lodged on the top of an ancient sepulchral cippus”
- The stocks.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- merestone 81% match — A stone designating a limit or boundary; a boundary stone. vs cippus →
- footstone 80% match — A gravestone placed at the foot of a grave; typically smaller than a headstone, and frequently resembling a large cobblestone. vs cippus →
- guidestone 80% match — A traditional stone marker providing directions for travellers. vs cippus →
- limes 79% match — A boundary or border, especially of the Roman Empire. vs cippus →
- stelography 79% match — The art of writing or inscribing characters on pillars. vs cippus →
- topograph 78% match — A monument erected in a high place, such as a hilltop, indicating the direction and distance of notable landscape features which can be seen with the naked eye from that point. vs cippus →
- headstone 78% match — A gravestone, a grave marker: a monument traditionally made of stone placed at the head of a grave. vs cippus →
- cairn 77% match — A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument. vs cippus →