menhir
men·hir/ˈmɛnˌ(h)ɪ(ə)ɹ/noun
menhir is spelled M-E-N-H-I-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (men·hir). It appears about once in every 38 million words in written English, the 189,524th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, menhir means “A single tall standing stone as a monument, especially one dating to prehistoric times” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of menhir is menhirs.
How many letters and syllables are in menhir?
| Letters | 6: M-E-N-H-I-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: men·hir |
| In writing | about once in every 38 million words; the 189,524th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is menhir?
Menhir appears about once in every 38 million words in written English, the 189,524th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce menhir?
- UK /ˈmɛnhɪə/
- US /ˈmɛnˌ(h)ɪ(ə)ɹ/
Menhir has 2 syllables, split men·hir in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-menhir.wav, En-us-menhir.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of menhir
- menhirs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does menhir mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A single tall standing stone as a monument, especially one dating to prehistoric times.
Near-synonym: orthostat
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Menhir in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense single tall standing stone as a monument:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | menhir |
| German | Menhir, Druidenstein, Hinkelstein, Hünenstein |
| Portuguese | menir |
| Spanish | menhir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does menhir come from?
Either borrowed from French menhir, or from its etymon Breton maen-hir, compound of maen (“stone”) + hir (“long”). Compare with Welsh maen hir, and Cornish men hir.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).