menhir
English edit
Etymology edit
PIE word |
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*méǵh₂s |
Either borrowed from French menhir, or from its etymon Breton maen-hir (literally “long stone”), from maen (“stone”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”)) + hir (“long”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“long; lasting”)). The English word is cognate with Cornish mênhere, Welsh maen hir.[1]
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɛnhɪə/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmɛnˌ(h)ɪ(ə)ɹ/
Audio (GA) (file) - Hyphenation: men‧hir
Noun edit
menhir (plural menhirs)
- (archaeology) A single tall standing stone as a monument, especially one dating to prehistoric times.
- Synonym: orthostat
- 1963, Thomas Pynchon, “Confessions of Fausto Maijstral”, in V.: […], Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, pages 310–311:
- [N]o time has passed since we lived in caves, grappled with fish at the reedy shore, buried our dead with a song, with red-ochre and pulled up our dolmens, temples and menhirs and standing stones to the glory of some indeterminate god or gods, […]
- 1980, Anthony Burgess, chapter 39, in Earthly Powers, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, London: Penguin Books, published 1981, →ISBN, page 280:
- On the coast tree ferns and pandanus palms. Inland termite menhirs seventeen feet high.
Translations edit
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See also edit
References edit
- ^ “menhir, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “menhir, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French menhir, from Breton maen-hir.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Noun edit
menhir m (plural menhirs, diminutive menhirtje n)
French edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Breton maen-hir, from maen (“stone”) + hir (“tall”) (compare Welsh maen hir, Cornish mênhere).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
menhir m (plural menhirs)
Further reading edit
- “menhir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Polish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
menhir m inan
- (archaeology) menhir (single tall standing stone as a monument, especially one dating to prehistoric times)
Declension edit
Further reading edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French menhir, from Breton maen-hir.
Noun edit
menhir n (plural menhire)
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French menhir, from Breton maen-hir.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
menhir m (plural menhires)
Further reading edit
- “menhir”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014