ziggurat

noun

zig·​gu·​rat ˈzi-gə-ˌrat 

: an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower consisting of a lofty pyramidal structure built in successive stages with outside staircases and a shrine at the top

also : a structure or object of similar form

Illustration of ziggurat

Did you know?

François Lenormant and Ziggurat

French professor of archaeology Francois Lenormant spent a great deal of time poring over ancient Assyrian texts. In those cuneiform inscriptions, he recognized a new language, now known as Akkadian, which proved valuable to the understanding of the ancient civilization. Through his studies, he became familiar with the Akkadian word for the towering temples: ziqqurratu, which was translated into English as ziggurat.

Examples of ziggurat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The picture was our official group portrait: roughly 50 young teenagers of varying heights, some piled around a wooden tower, a sort of mini-Midwestern ziggurat. —Jill Gurvey, Twin Cities, 2 May 2024

The first day, for a scene set in a corporate ziggurat, Scott looked through the lens and saw that the building’s columns had been installed upside down. —Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023

In this spirit, Francis convened an interfaith prayer service on March 6 near the dramatic ocher ziggurat of Ur. —Victor Gaetan, Foreign Affairs, 12 Mar. 2021

That geography is part of why the actual Biosphere 2 building looks so striking: Two ziggurats made of tessellated glass triangles are connected by a long, glass rectangular structure. —Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 10 July 2023

Word History

Etymology

Akkadian ziqqurratu

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined above

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