Basic Details
Word: Mausoleum
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A large and impressive building built to hold a tomb or tombs.
Synonyms: tomb
Word origin: Comes through Latin from Greek Mausoleion, the tomb of Mausolus, a ruler of Caria who died in about 353 BC; it stood at Halicarnassus, now Bodrum in Turkey.
How to Spell Mausoleum
Syllables: mau - so - le - um
Tricky part: It starts with au, not o or ou, and ends with eum, as in museum.
Watch out for: mausolium, mousoleum, mausaleum, mosoleum
Memory tip: Keep the name of King Mausolus with its au, drop his us and add eum, the same ending as museum.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The guide told us that the white marble mausoleum took over twenty years to finish.
Example 2: Tourists walked quietly through the cool halls of the old mausoleum.
Example 3: The emperor ordered a marble mausoleum for himself long before he died.
Fun Fact
Gol Gumbaz in Vijayapura, Karnataka, the mausoleum of Sultan Mohammed Adil Shah, has a whispering gallery where a soft whisper can be heard on the far side of the huge dome.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. monasstery 2. mausoleum 3. citidel 4. cathedrel
a) the main church of an area, led by a bishop
b) a fortress that protects a city
c) a large building that holds a tomb
d) a building where monks live and pray
Show answer
c) a large building that holds a tomb. Monastery has one s, cathedral ends in al and citadel has an a in the middle; mausoleum needs no fixing.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
m_us_le_m
a) a, o, u
b) a, o, i
c) a, a, u
d) o, o, u
Show answer
a) a, o, u. Mau-so-le-um: au at the start, o after the s and u in the last part.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Humayun's Tomb in Delhi is a grand muasluemo set in a large walled garden.
a) mosaic
b) mausoleum
c) monument
d) museum
Show answer
b) mausoleum. Nine letters with an a, an l and two u's make mausoleum; museum and monument have no a or l.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The word mausoleum comes from ____.
a) a Latin word for stone
b) a Greek word for sleep
c) the name of a river
d) the name of an ancient king
Show answer
d) the name of an ancient king
2. Which of these buildings is a mausoleum?
a) the Gateway of India
b) the Qutub Minar
c) the Taj Mahal
d) the Red Fort
Show answer
c) the Taj Mahal
