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/puy"lon/, n.1. a marking post or tower for guiding aviators, frequently used in races.2. a relatively tall structure at the side of a gate, bridge, or avenue, marking an entrance or approach.3. a monumental tower forming the entrance to an ancient Egyptian temple, consisting either of a pair of tall quadrilateral masonry masses with sloping sides and a doorway between them or of one such mass pierced with a doorway.4. a steel tower or mast carrying high-tension lines, telephone wires, or other cables and lines.5. Aeron. a finlike device used to attach engines, auxiliary fuel tanks, bombs, etc., to an aircraft wing or fuselage.[1840-50; < Gk pylón gateway, gate tower]
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(Greek: "gateway") In modern construction, a tower that gives support, such as the steel towers between which electrical wires are strung or the piers of a bridge.Originally, pylons were monumental gateways to ancient Egyptian temples, either a pair of tall truncated pyramids with a doorway between them or a masonry mass pierced by a doorway.* * *
(Greek: “gateway”), in modern construction, any tower that gives support, such as the steel towers between which electrical wires are strung, the piers of a bridge, or the columns from which girders are hung in certain types of structural work. Originally, pylons were any monumental gateways or tower-like structures.Ancient pylons were most often massive stone structures that flanked the doors to temples. The Egyptians made frequent use of them, usually in the form of foreshortened pyramids to mark the entrances of tombs. Pylons were decorated with carvings, moldings, and cornices. The Pont Alexandre III in Paris features pylons in the form of decorative quadrangle pillars. The word may also refer to any isolated tower, especially serving monumental purposes.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
