Etymology

dolmen

dol·men
D2O1L1M3E1N1

Today it means: A prehistoric megalithic tomb consisting of a capstone supported by two or more upright stones, most having originally been covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow. Full definition →

French dolmen ← Breton taol ← Cornish tolmen
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The story

  1. Cornish · derived fromtolmen
  2. Breton · derived fromtaol
  3. French · borrowed fromdolmen
  4. English todaydolmen

Borrowed from French dolmen. Perhaps incorrectly fabricated from Breton taol maen (taol (“table”) + maen (“stone”)) (the correct compound would be *taolvaen, not **daolmaen). An alternative theory states the French term derives instead from Cornish tolmen, from toll (“hole”) + men (“stone”); compare the name of the Cornish standing stones Men an Toll. See also menhir.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.