Ancient Greek edit

Etymology edit

Perhaps from Ancient Greek πῡραμός (pūramós) +‎ -ῐ́ς (-ís), from πῡρός (pūrós, wheat) + ἀμάω (amáō, reap), or from Egyptian pr-m-ws (height of a pyramid), from pr ((one that) comes forth) + m (from) + ws (height?). If the ‘cake’ sense of the word is primary and was later applied to the Egyptian monuments from their resemblance in shape, then the Greek etymology is probable; however, the shape of the cake is unknown, and the ‘monument’ sense is attested a century earlier than the ‘cake’ sense, so that the Greek derivation is problematic. The Egyptian derivation is also problematic in that there is a gap of 1100 years between the attestation of pr-m-ws and that of πυραμίς. It is also possible that the ‘monument’ sense and the ‘cake’ sense were originally etymologically distinct but came to be identical due to folk etymology.

Pronunciation edit

 

Noun edit

πῡρᾰμῐ́ς (pūramísf (genitive πῡρᾰμῐ́δος); third declension

  1. pyramid
  2. a type of cake

Declension edit

Descendants edit

  • Greek: πυραμίδα (pyramída)
  • Latin: pȳramis (see there for further descendants)

Further reading edit