Pyramid: The Shape, the Tomb, and the Scheme
A pyramid is a solid with a polygonal base and triangular sides. The Egyptian monuments gave the shape its name, and fraudsters borrowed it later.
A pyramid is a solid whose base is a polygon and whose sides are triangles meeting at a point. The Egyptian tombs gave English the word, and the shape gave its name to a class of fraud: a pyramid scheme pays early joiners from the money of later ones, and collapses when recruitment slows, which it always does.
- A solid with triangular sides meeting at a point. *A square-based pyramid.*
- An ancient Egyptian tomb. *The pyramids at Giza.*
- A hierarchical structure. *The population pyramid.*
- Pyramid scheme — a fraudulent recruitment structure. *Warned about a pyramid scheme.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | pyramid | A stone pyramid. |
| Plural | pyramids | The pyramids. |
| Adjective | pyramidal | A pyramidal roof. |
| Related | ziggurat | A Mesopotamian ziggurat. |
| Related | apex | The apex of the pyramid. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The Great Pyramid was built around 2560 BC.For the pharaoh Khufu.
- Draw a population pyramid by age group.Demography.
- If returns depend on recruitment, it is a pyramid scheme.The standard warning sign.
Pyramid facts
- Great Pyramid — the tallest human structure for about 3,800 years
- Ziggurat — the Mesopotamian stepped temple, not a tomb
- Mesoamerican pyramids — stepped, with temples on top
- Nubian pyramids — far more numerous, steeper and smaller
- Apex — the point where the faces meet
From Greek *pyramis*, of uncertain origin — possibly from an Egyptian word, possibly from a Greek word for a wheat cake of similar shape.
How do you spot a pyramid scheme?
Income comes mainly from recruiting others rather than from selling a product to people outside the scheme.
Are ziggurats pyramids?
Not strictly. Ziggurats are stepped temple platforms with flat tops, built for worship rather than burial.