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. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 84 out of 100.
dolmen is pronounced /ˈdəʊ̯l.mən/.
Why “dolmen” is a great word
DOLMEN — [Noun] A prehistoric megalithic tomb consisting of a large flat capstone supported by two or more upright stones. From French dolmen, perhaps a borrowing from Cornish tolmen, from toll ("hole") + men ("stone"), or an incorrect fabrication from Breton taol ("table") + maen ("stone"). First recorded in English 1855–60. Unlike a menhir, a solitary standing stone, or a cromlech, a ceremonial stone circle, a dolmen is the specific architecture of interment. It is a granite table set for a feast of bones, a crude doorframe opening onto the underworld, and a silhouette of colossal shoulders against a twilight sky; a monument whose primary function was to seal something away, yet which now stands utterly and forever open.
Etymology
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.
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.
- Any megalithic tomb, including passage graves and wedge tombs.