Cleopatra's Needle
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The obelisk so called, now m London on the Thames Embankment, was brought there in 1878 from Alexandria, whither it and its fellow (now in Central Park, New York) had been moved from Heliopolis
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Cleopatra's Needle” mean?
The obelisk so called, now m London on the Thames Embankment, was brought there in 1878 from Alexandria, whither it and its fellow (now in Central Park, New York) had been moved from Heliopolis
Is “Cleopatra's Needle” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.