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cairn

noun
/kɛən/UK/kɛ(ə)ɹn/US/keːn/

Etymology

From Scots cairn, from Scottish Gaelic càrn, from Old Irish carn, from Proto-Celtic *karnos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“horn”). Compare Welsh carn, Cornish carn. Doublet of carn and horn.

  1. derived from *ḱerh₂-✻
  2. derived from *karnos✻
  3. derived from carn
  4. derived from càrn
  5. borrowed from cairn

Definitions

  1. A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles,…

    A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument.

    • "Now here let us place the gray stone of her cairn: / Why speak ye no word!"—said Glenara the stern.

  2. A pile of stones heaped up as a landmark, to guide travelers on land or at sea, or to…

    A pile of stones heaped up as a landmark, to guide travelers on land or at sea, or to arrest attention, as in surveying, or in leaving traces of an exploring party, etc.

    • After fifteen minutes of this we were glad to reach a high saddle on which former travellers had piled little cairns of commemoration and thankfulness.

  3. A cairn terrier.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for cairn. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA