cromlech
/ˈkɹɑmˌlɛk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.48 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Synonym of stone circle (“a prehistoric monument consisting of standing stones arranged in a circle”), especially one located in Brittany, France.
noun
synonym of altar tomb or dolmen (“a prehistoric megalithic tomb consisting of a (somewhat) flat capstone lying horizontally on two or more upright stones”), especially one located in Wales, but also in England (chiefly Cornwall and Devon) or Ireland.
British usage
Example Sentences
- "The korreds are supposed to live in the cromlechs, of which they are believed to have been the builders. They dance around them at night, and betide the unhappy peasant who joins them in their roundels."
- "The scenes depicted on the emunctory field, showing our ancient duns and raths and cromlechs and grianauns and seats of learning and maledictive stones, are as wonderfully beautiful and the pigments as delicate as when the Sligo illuminators gave free rein to their artistic fantasy long long ago in the time of the Barmecides."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *krumbos Proto-Brythonic *krum Middle Welsh crwm Welsh crom Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂-? Proto-Indo-European *pel-? Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *pl̥keh₂der. Proto-Celtic *ɸlikkā Proto-Brythonic *llex Middle Welsh llech Welsh llech Welsh cromlechbor. English cromlech Borrowed from Welsh cromlech, from crom, the feminine singular form of crwm (“bent, bowed, curved”). Sense 1 (“stone circle”) is from Breton cromlec'h, krommlec'h probably from Welsh cromlech: see above.
Word Breakdown
- Root: cromlec'h
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɹɑmˌlɛk/
- British English: /ˈkɹɒmlɛk/
Usage
- British usage