karn

plural karns

1. datedbusinessA pile of rocks.

   This gorseddau lies opposite to a karn of rocks, which is called the Cheese-wring.

   1816, Richard Polwhele, The History of Cornwall, Civil, Military, Religious, Architectural, Agricultural, Commercial, Biographical, and Miscellaneous, page 30

   2 more examples

   Besides the single bason above-mention'd, I could not perceive one in all the rocks; but in a Karn below, overlooking, and it's sides almost perpendicular to the sea, I saw many furrows and clefts crossing the surface of the upper rocks; this lower-most Karn is call'd in the Cornish tongue Karn-a-wethen, that is, the Tree-Karn […]

   1754, William Borlase, Observations on the Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall, page 132

   This quoit was brought from a karn about a furlong distance, near which is another cromlech, not so large.

   1817, Charles Sandoe Gilbert, A Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall, page 175

plural Karns

1. A surname.