[stee-lee, steel for 1–3; steel, stee-lee for 4] 
[stee-lahy] , ste⋅les [stee-leez, steelz] . | 1. | an upright stone slab or pillar bearing an inscription or design and serving as a monument, marker, or the like. |
| 2. | Architecture. a prepared surface on the face of a building, a rock, etc., bearing an inscription or the like. |
| 3. | (in ancient Rome) a burial stone. |
| 4. | Botany. the central cylinder or cylinders of vascular and related tissue in the stem, root, petiole, leaf, etc., of the higher plants. |
| stele (stēl, stē'lē) Pronunciation Key
The central core of primary vascular tissues in the stem or root of a vascular plant, consisting of xylem and phloem together with pith. |
li
lē,