dolmen
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mɛn, -mən, ˈdɒl- noun Archaeology.
a structure usually regarded as a tomb, consisting of two or more large, upright stones set with a space between and capped by a horizontal stone.
Also called portal tomb.
Compare chamber tomb.
Origin:
1855–60; < French < Cornish, lenited form of tolmen hole of stone (taken by French archeologists to mean cromlech)
1855–60; < French < Cornish, lenited form of tolmen hole of stone (taken by French archeologists to mean cromlech)
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To dolmen
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Dolmen
is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
dolmen (ˈdɒlmɛn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | (in British archaeology) a Neolithic stone formation, consisting of a horizontal stone supported by several vertical stones, and thought to be a tomb |
| 2. | (in French archaeology) any megalithic tomb |
| [C19: from French, probably from Old Breton tol table, from Latin tabula board + Breton mēn stone, of Celtic origin; see | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
dolmen
1859, from Fr. dolmin applied 1796 by Fr. archaeologist Latour d'Auvergne, perhaps from Cornish tolmen "enormous stone slab set up on supporting points," such that a man may walk under it, lit. "hole of stone," from Celt. men "stone." Some suggest the first element may be Bret. taol "table," a loan-word
from L. tabula "board, plank," but the Bret. form of this compound would be taolvean. "There is reason to think that this [tolmen] is the word inexactly reproduced by Latour d'Auvergne as dolmin, and misapplied by him and succeeding Fr. archaeologists to the cromlech" [OED]. See cromlech, which is properly an upright flat stone, often arranged as one of a circle.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The chapel incorporates stone thought to be the remains of prehistoric dolmen.
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