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.

---

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

---

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

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

It is possible, the authors of the new study say, that people buried at the henge came from the same Welsh region.

From Washington Post • Aug. 2, 2018

I saw that henge for the first time after dinner with Morpheus and her husband in their double-wide trailer: up the hillside, in the moonlight, there it was.

From The Guardian • Oct. 29, 2016

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