hunebed

Dutch

Alternative forms
  • huinebed (obsolete)
  • hunnebed

Etymology

From hune (“giant”) +‎ bed (“bed”), roughly meaning "a bed (of stones) built by giants". Cognate to and probably formed after German Hünenbett (“dolmen”).

The alternative form hunnebed (“dolmen”) also exists, which is a conflation with the word Hunnen (“the Huns, an Asian tribe which lived in Europe and Central Asia between the 1st century AD and the 7th century”). As a consequence preference is given to the etymologically correct hunebed.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈɦynəbɛt/, /ˈɦʏnəbɛt/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

hunebed n (plural hunebedden)

  1. (archaeology) dolmen
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.