menhir
/ˈmɛnhɪə/
"menhir" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“menhir” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A single tall standing stone as a monument, especially one dating to prehistoric times.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | menhir |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɛnhɪə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “menhir” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for menhir is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɛnhɪə/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A single tall standing stone as a monument, especially one dating to prehistoric times.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for menhir, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *méǵh₂s Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂sder.? Proto-Celtic *maginos Proto-Brythonic *maɣɨnder. Breton maen Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Celtic *sīros Proto-Brythonic *hirder. Breton hir Breton maen-hirbor. F… The correct English form is menhir, spelled M-E-N-H-I-R.
Definition
- 1A single tall standing stone as a monument, especially one dating to prehistoric times.
Etymology
PIE word *méǵh₂s Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂sder.? Proto-Celtic *maginos Proto-Brythonic *maɣɨnder. Breton maen Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Celtic *sīros Proto-Brythonic *hirder. Breton hir Breton maen-hirbor. French menhirbor. English menhir 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.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “menhir”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-N-H-I-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɛnhɪə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.