dolmen

See also: dólmen

English

A dolmen in Portugal.

Etymology

Borrowed from French dolmen. Perhaps incorrectly fabricated from Breton taol maen (taol (“table”) + maen (“stone”)) (the correct compound would be *taolvaen, not **daolmaen). See also menhir.

Pronunciation

• enPR: dōl′mən, dŏl′-
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdəʊ̯l.mən/, /ˈdɒl-/, (older) /ˈdɔːl-/

  Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈdoʊ̯l.mən/, (cot–caught merger) /ˈdɑl-/

  (General American, without the cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈdɔl-/

  (Canada, without the cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒl-/

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈdəʉ̯l.mən/, /ˈdɔl-/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈdɐʉ̯l.mən/, /ˈdɒl-/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈdol.mən/, /ˈdɔl-/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈɖoːl.men/, /ˈɖɔl-/
• Rhymes: -əʊlmən, -ɒlmən
• Homophone: dolman
• Hyphenation: dol‧men

Noun

dolmen (plural dolmens)

2. (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.
3. (loosely) Any megalithic tomb, including passage graves and wedge tombs.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with dolman.

Synonyms

• cromlech
• portal tomb
• quoit

Translations

tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones

• Armenian: դոլմեն (hy) (dolmen)
• Basque: trikuharri, dolmen (eu)
• Breton: liac'hven, liac'h (br), taol-vaen
• Catalan: dolmen (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 石棚 (shípéng), 石棚墓 (shípéngmù)

• Cornish: krommlegh f
• Czech: dolmen m
• Dutch: hunebed (nl) n
• French: dolmen (fr) m
• Galician: dolmen (gl) m, arca (gl) f, anta (gl) f, forno (gl) m
• German: Dolmen (de) m, Hünenbett n, Hünengrab (de) n, Hünenstein m
• Icelandic: steindys f, jötunstóll m
• Japanese: 支石墓 (shisekibo)
• Korean: 고인돌 (ko) (goindol)
• Mongolian: дольмен (dolʹmen)
• Norman: pouquelaye f (Jersey, Guernsey), dolmen m (Jersey)
• Polish: dolmen (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: dólmen (pt) m
• Russian: дольме́н (ru) m (dolʹmén)
• Scottish Gaelic: cromleac
• Spanish: dolmen (es) m
• Swedish: dös (sv) c, stendös (sv) c
• Turkish: dolmen (tr)
• Welsh: cromlech f

See also

• cairn
• menhir

Further reading

• dolmen on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “dolmen”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Lemond, Meldon, Molden, molden, old men, old-men, oldmen

French

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔl.mɛn/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dol‧men

Noun

dolmen m (plural dolmens)

2. (historical) dolmen (tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones)

Further reading

• “dolmen”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Dolmen de Axeitos, Ribeira, Galicia

Etymology

First attested in c. 1870. Borrowed from French dolmen. Traditional local denominations of dolmens include anta, arca, forno, casota.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɔlmeŋ/ [ˈd̪ɔl.mɪ̃ŋ]
• Rhymes: -ɔlmeŋ
• Hyphenation: dọl‧mĕn

Noun

dolmen m (plural dolmens)

2. (historical) dolmen (tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones)

   Synonym: anta

   • 1883, Manuel Lago, Obra:

     Ai! Cando funguen os ventos nas polas do castañal xa non ruxirán as armas qu'alí tiñan nosos pais...! Donde fixemos fogueiras os carrascos nacerán, e no dolmen en qu'ibamos de noite a sacrificar, criaránse herbas e toxos i os mouchos aniñarán... Cobrirán silvas i hadreiras as pedras do noso lar, e sobr'as mámoas dos mortos xente allea pasará

     Woe! When the winds hum in the chestnut branches no longer will roar our father's arms there! Where we lighted bonfires, oaks will grow, and at the dolmen where we made our sacrifices at night, weeds and gorses will grow and the owl will make nest... Brambles and ivies will cover the stones of our home, and over the barrows of the dead, alien people will walk

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “dolmen”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “dolmen”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from French dolmen.

Noun

dolmen m (plural dolmens)

2. (historical; Jersey) dolmen (tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French dolmen.

Noun

dolmen n (plural dolmene)

2. (historical) dolmen (tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones)

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	dolmen	dolmenul		dolmene	dolmenele
genitive-dative	dolmen	dolmenului		dolmene	dolmenelor
vocative	dolmenule			dolmenelor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French dolmen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdolmen/ [ˈd̪ol.mẽn]
• Rhymes: -olmen
• Syllabification: dol‧men

Noun

dolmen m (plural dólmenes)

2. (historical) dolmen (tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones)

Further reading

• “dolmen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Noun

dolmen c

1. definite singular of dolme