tumulus

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
9
Words With Friends
14
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ˈtjuːmjələs/(UK)
See all 2 pronunciations
/ˈtjuːmjələs/(UK) · /ˈtuːmjələs/(US)

Definition of tumulus

1 sense · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. A mound of earth, especially one placed over a prehistoric tomb; a barrow.
    “They planted the cannon on the tumuli, sole elevations in this level country, and formed themselves into column and hollow square.”
    “Near Smeinogorsk an octagonal tumulus has been found containing the corpse of a horse near a rectangular one with a human corpse, both within stone circles.”
    “The delicate white body will be covered to-day, The tumulus be reared, the green sod give way: And there, oh Cynvarch, thy son they will lay.”
    “The tumulus is one of mankind's oldest burial monuments, dating back to 4,000 to 5,000 years B.C. […] Examples of tumuli can be seen peppering the landscape all over Western Europe.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Latin tumulus (“mound, hill”), from tumeō (“to swell”). Doublet of tombolo.

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