pedestal

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a position of great esteem and supposed superiority

   We put them on a pedestal.

2. 2
   noun

   The base or foot of a column, statue, vase, lamp.

   The table and two base pedestals cost more than $4,000. The pedestals are described as having “hand applied ebonized inlay with bell flowers topped by hand carved scrolls and a fluted column.”

3. 3
   noun

   A place of reverence or honor.

   He has put his mother on a pedestal. You can't say a word against her.

4. 4
   noun

   a support or foundation

5. 5
   noun

   an architectural support or base (as for a column or statue)

6. 6
   noun

   A casting secured to the frame of a truck of a railcar and forming a jaw for holding a journal box.

7. 7
   noun

   A pillow block; a low housing.

8. 8
   noun

   An iron socket, or support, for the foot of a brace at the end of a truss where it rests on a pier.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French piédestal, itself borrowed from Italian piedistallo (literally “foot stand”). Spelling influenced by Latin pēs, pedem.