megalithic

English

Etymology

PIE word
*méǵh₂s

From mega- (prefix meaning ‘very large, great’) +‎ -lith (suffix meaning ‘stone’) +‎ -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, forming adjectives from nouns), probably modelled after monolithic;[1] according to the Oxford English Dictionary the word is first attested earlier than megalith.[2] It is analysable as megalith +‎ -ic.

Pronunciation

Adjective

megalithic (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to megaliths, to the people who made them, or to the period when they were made.

Translations

References

  1. ^ Compare “megalithic, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “megalithic, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “megalith, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “megalith, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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