menhir
Plural: menhirs
Noun
- A tall, upright, prehistoric stone, often serving as a monument.
- a tall upright megalith; found primarily in England and northern France
- A single tall standing stone as a monument, especially one dating to prehistoric times.
Examples
- His opponent’s last word stood like a MENHIR, unassailable and blocking new plays.
Origin / Etymology
PIE word
*méǵh₂s
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂sder.?
Proto-Celtic *maginos
Proto-Brythonic *maɣɨnder.
Breton maen
Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-rós
Proto-Celtic *sīros
Proto-Brythonic *hirder.
Breton hir
Breton maen-hirbor.
French menhirbor.
English menhir
Either borrowed from French menhir, or from its etymon Breton maen-hir, compound of maen (“stone”) + hir (“long”). Compare with Welsh maen hir, and Cornish men hir.
Synonyms
standing stone
Scrabble Score: 11
menhir: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordmenhir: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
menhir: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 12
menhir: valid Words With Friends Word