dolmen
Meanings
noun
- A prehistoric megalithic tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones, most having originally been covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow.
- Any megalithic tomb, including passage graves and wedge tombs.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Borrowed from French dolmen. Perhaps incorrectly fabricated from Breton taol maen (taol (“table”) + maen (“stone”)) (the correct compound would be *taolvaen, not **daolmaen). An alternative theory states the French term derives instead from Cornish tolmen, from toll (“hole”) + men (“stone”); compare the name of the Cornish standing stones Men an Toll. See also menhir.
Synonyms
Related words
Previous
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.