menhir

noun

men·​hir ˈmen-ˌhir 

: a single upright rough monolith usually of prehistoric origin

Examples of menhir in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The menhirs rose straight up, crude towers hacked from granite, taller than our parents. — Rosanna Warren, Harper's Magazine, 25 June 2024

And yet four decades after the wrapping came off Philip Johnson and John Burgee’s 550 Madison Avenue to reveal a pink stone menhir with a fancy hat, the tower still radiates a wry, ornery, unmistakably New York personality. — Curbed, 2 Nov. 2022

While Castaño suggests a curvy line seen on the menhir refers to the winding route of the nearby Tagus River, archaeologist Primitiva Bueno Ramírez identifies the marking as a snake with a triangular head. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 9 Sep. 2019

The enormous, 65-ton capstone on top of its chamber is a broken fragment of a menhir, a standing stone, brought from 10 km away. — Mike Parker Pearson, Discover Magazine, 12 Dec. 2015

Word History

Etymology

French, from Breton, from men stone + hir long

First Known Use

1840, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for menhir

• adhere
• ameer
• amir
• appear
• arrear
• astir
• austere
• career
• cashier
• cohere
• compere
• emir