cairn means A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 80 out of 100.
cairn is pronounced /kɛən/.
Why “cairn” is a great word
CAIRN — [Noun] A human-made pile of stones, typically serving as a landmark, memorial, or burial monument. From Scots cairn, from Scottish Gaelic càrn, from Old Irish carn, from Proto-Celtic *karnos ("heap of stones"), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- ("horn"). Unlike a dolmen—a megalithic chamber of engineered capstones—or a tumulus—an earthen mound cloaked in turf—a cairn is an exposed and additive architecture of found stone. It is the lichen-crusted pyramid on a desolate pass, the careful balance of white quartz on a windswept headland, and the quiet, scattered heap by a forest trail—each added stone a silent salute, an enduring argument against the erasing wind, written in the landscape's own bones.
noun
- 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.”
- 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.”
- A cairn terrier.