obeliscolychny

English

Etymology

From Middle French obeliscolychnie (in Rabelais), from Ancient Greek ὀβελισκολύχνιον (obeliskolúkhnion, “spit used as a lamp-holder”), from ὀβελίσκος (obelískos, “obelisk”) + λυχνίον (lukhníon, “lamp-stand”).

Noun

obeliscolychny (plural obeliscolychnies)

  1. (rare) A lighthouse.
    • 1694, François Rabelais, translated by PA Motteux, Pantagruel, page 119:
      “I see a great number of People on the Harbour; I see a Light on an Obeliscolychny.”
    • 1993, Alfred Jarry, translated by Iain White, Visits of Love, page 85:
      Who has lit the sun and the moon like two lamps, that they might shine in the distance on the two mountains on the two sides of the castle, comparable to two obeliscolychnies?
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