pedestal

[ped-uh-stl] /ˈpɛd ə stl/
noun
1.
an architectural support for a column, statue, vase, or the like.
2.
a supporting structure or piece; base.
3.
Furniture.
  1. a support for a desk, consisting of a boxlike frame containing drawers one above the other.
  2. a columnar support for a tabletop.
4.
Building Trades. a bulge cast at the bottom of a concrete pile.
verb (used with object), pedestaled, pedestaling or (especially British) pedestalled, pedestalling.
5.
to put on or supply with a pedestal.
Idioms
6.
set / put on a pedestal, to glorify; idealize:
When we first became engaged each of us set the other on a pedestal.
Origin
1555-65; alteration of Middle French piedestal < Italian piedestallo, variant of piedistallo literally, foot of stall. See ped-2, de, stall1
Related forms
unpedestal, verb (used with object), unpedestaled, unpedestaling or (especially British) unpedestalled, unpedestalling.
British Dictionary definitions for set on a pedestal

pedestal

/ˈpɛdɪstəl/
noun
1.
a base that supports a column, statue, etc, as used in classical architecture
2.
a position of eminence or supposed superiority (esp in the phrases place, put, or set on a pedestal)
3.
  1. either of a pair of sets of drawers used as supports for a writing surface
  2. (as modifier): a pedestal desk
Word Origin
C16: from French piédestal, from Old Italian piedestallo, from pie foot + di of + stallo a stall
Word Origin and History for set on a pedestal

pedestal

n.

1560s, "base supporting a column, statue, etc.," from Middle French piédestal (1540s), from Italian piedistallo "base of a pillar," from pie "foot" + di "of" + stallo "stall, place, seat," from a Germanic source (see stall (n.1)).

Spelling in English influenced by Latin pedem "foot." An Old English word for it was fotstan, literally "foot-stone." Figurative sense of put (someone) on a pedestal "regard as highly admirable" is attested from 1859.

Idioms and Phrases with set on a pedestal

set on a pedestal

pedestal