US /ˈmɑn.əˌlɪθ/ UK /ˈmɒn.ə.lɪθ/
noun Freq #44413

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a large single block of stone, especially one used as a monument

    The ancient monolith stood alone on the plain.

  2. 2
    noun

    a massive, uniform, and hard-to-change organization, system, or structure

    The startup slowly turned into a bureaucratic monolith.

  3. 3
    noun

    a software system built and deployed as one large unified application

    The team split the monolith only after the domain boundaries were clear.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a large single block of... standing stonemegalith
2 noun · a massive, uniform, and... behemothblocgiant
3 noun · a software system built and... monolithic application
Word family
Forms monolithicmonoliths
Derived forms monolithsmonolithicmonolithicallymonolithism
Related forms megalithmicrolithmonolithic

Etymology

From French monolithe, ultimately from Greek monolithos (made of one stone), from mono- (single) + lithos (stone).

Topics

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