cairn

noun

: a heap of stones piled up as a memorial or as a landmark
cairned adjective

Examples of cairn in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The bones excavated at the site were returned to King William Island in 1994 and interred in a memorial cairn. Katie Hunt, CNN, 11 Oct. 2024 Ranger died in 1940 and was buried at the summit of Mount Hood, which is marked by a stone cairn and an engraved plaque. Meira Gebel, Axios, 20 Sep. 2024 The trail can be confusing so keep an eye open for cairns and tree notches serving as trail markers. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 18 Sep. 2024 China’s vast coal mountain looks like just such a cairn, to mark a peak our planet’s climate will be glad to see the back of. David Fickling, Twin Cities, 11 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for cairn 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English (Scots) carne, from Scottish Gaelic carn; akin to Old Irish & Welsh carn cairn

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cairn was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near cairn

Cite this Entry

“Cairn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cairn. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

cairn

noun
ˈka(ə)rn How to pronounce cairn (audio)
ˈke(ə)rn
: a heap of stones piled up as a landmark or as a memorial

More from Merriam-Webster on cairn

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