What does standing stone mean?

Definitions for standing stone
stand·ing stone

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word standing stone.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. menhir, standing stonenoun

    a tall upright megalith; found primarily in England and northern France

Wiktionary

  1. standing stonenoun

    A prehistoric monument consisting of an upright megalith; often in groups

Wikipedia

  1. standing stone

    A menhir (from Brittonic languages: maen or men, "stone" and hir or hîr, "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found individually as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top. They are widely distributed across Europe, Africa and Asia, but are most numerous in Western Europe; particularly in Ireland, Great Britain, and Brittany, where there are about 50,000 examples, and northwestern France, where there are some 1,200 further examples. Standing stones are usually difficult to date. They were constructed during many different periods across pre-history as part of the larger megalithic cultures in Europe and near areas. Some menhirs stand next to buildings that have an early or current religious significance. One example is the South Zeal Menhir in Devon, which formed the basis for a 12th-century monastery built by lay monks. The monastery later became the Oxenham Arms hotel, at South Zeal, and the standing stone remains in place in the snug bar at the hotel.Where menhirs appear in groups, often in a circular, oval, henge or horseshoe formation, they are sometimes called megalithic monuments. These are sites of ancient religious ceremonies, sometimes containing burial chambers. The exact function of menhirs has provoked more debate than practically any other issue in European pre-history. Over the centuries, they have variously been thought to have been used by Druids for human sacrifice, used as territorial markers, or elements of a complex ideological system, used as mnemonic systems for oral cultures, or functioned as early calendars. Until the nineteenth century, antiquarians did not have substantial knowledge of prehistory, and their only reference points were provided by classical literature. The developments of radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology have significantly advanced scientific knowledge in this area. The word menhir was adopted from French by 19th-century archaeologists. The introduction of the word into general archaeological usage has been attributed to the 18th-century French military officer Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne. It is a combination of two words of the Breton language: maen and hir. In modern Welsh, they are described as maen hir, or "long stone". In modern Breton, the word peulvan is used, with peul meaning "stake" or "post" and van which is a soft mutation of the word maen which means "stone". In Germany and Scandinavia the word Bauta is used (e.g. de:Bautastein and no:bautastein) and this occasionally makes its way into English with the term "bauta stone".

ChatGPT

  1. standing stone

    A standing stone, also known as a menhir, is a large, upright, usually single piece of stone often of prehistoric origin that was set into the ground in ancient times. Standing stones were placed by various cultures for ritualistic, ceremonial, astronomical, or religious purposes, and are found across the world. Their size can range from just over a metre to several metres high. They are typically solitary, but can also be arranged in groups or circles. The exact purpose of these stones remains largely mysterious.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of standing stone in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of standing stone in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8


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"standing stone." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/standing+stone>.

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