Word.ws English Dictionary

dolmen

Syllables: dol·men/ˈdəʊ̯l.mən/US/ˈdoʊ̯l.mən/

dolmen noun: a prehistoric megalithic tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones, most having originally been covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow.

dolmen: a prehistoric megalithic tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones,...
Image: João Carvalho, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

dolmen (plural dolmens)

  1. (historical, strictly) A prehistoric megalithic tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones, most having originally been covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow.
    • They are expert smiths and coiners; they are said to have great treasures in the dolmen in which they dwell, and of which they are regarded as the builders.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 432
    Synonyms:
    cromlech, portal tomb, quoit
  2. (broadly) Any megalithic tomb, including passage graves and wedge tombs.

dolmen meaning in Tamil

dolmen in Tamil

கல்திட்டை

Synonyms of dolmen

Forms of dolmen

pluraldolmens

Origin of dolmen

Borrowed from French dolmen. Perhaps incorrectly fabricated from Breton taol maen (taol (“table”) + maen (“stone”)) (the correct compound would be *taolvaen, not **daolmaen). An alternative theory states the French term derives instead from Cornish tolmen, from toll (“hole”) + men (“stone”); compare the name of the Cornish standing stones Men an Toll. See also menhir.

Questions about dolmen

What does dolmen mean?
Dolmen means a prehistoric megalithic tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones, most having originally been covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow.
What is dolmen in Tamil?
Dolmen in Tamil is கல்திட்டை. See Dolmen meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is dolmen?
Dolmen is a noun.
How do you pronounce dolmen?
Dolmen is pronounced /ˈdəʊ̯l.mən/ (UK).
What is the plural of dolmen?
The plural of dolmen is dolmens.

Words near dolmen in the dictionary

  1. dolmathe
  2. dolmathes
  3. Dolmayan
  4. Dolmayans
  5. dolmeh
  6. dolmen
  7. dolmenic
  8. dolmenlike
  9. dolmens
  10. dolmus
  11. dolmuses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dolmen (page history and authors); dolmen (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dolmen.wav.

Cite this entry: “dolmen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dolmen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.