henge

American  

[henj] / hɛndʒ /

noun

Archaeology.

1. a Neolithic monument of the British Isles, consisting of a circular area enclosed by a bank and ditch and often containing additional features including one or more circles of upright stone or wood pillars: probably used for ritual purposes or for marking astronomical events, as solstices and equinoxes.

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henge British  

/ hɛndʒ /

noun

1. a circular area, often containing a circle of stones or sometimes wooden posts, dating from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages

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Etymology

Origin of henge

1730–40; back formation from Stonehenge, Middle English Stanenges, Stanheng, equivalent to stan stone + -heng, probably originally “something hanging”; cf. hinge

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

henge

Similar "henge" phenomena also occur in other cities with large amounts of skyscrapers and long straight streets - such as Chicago, Montreal and Toronto.

From BBC ● May 30, 2023

The structure appears to have been a boundary guiding people to a sacred area because Durrington Walls, one of Britain’s largest henge monuments, is located precisely at its centre.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 22, 2020

Archaeologists don’t know who built the henge, but they know it was under construction for thousands of years before Celts inhabited Britain.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 3, 2020

They line Durrington Walls, a large henge — or man-made earthen formation of a ditch and a ring — a bit more than a stone’s throw from Stonehenge.

From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2015

Unabashedly retro, with plenty of high- and low-tech silliness — "a henge!"

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2014