Standard Lemma guide

megalithic

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˌmɛɡəˈlɪθɪk/
  • rhymes with -ɪθɪk

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to megaliths, to the people who made them, or to the period when they were made.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

of or relating to megaliths or the people who erected megaliths

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • megalithic monuments like Stonehenge

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

PIE word *méǵh2s From mega- (prefix meaning ‘very large, great’) + -lith (suffix meaning ‘stone’) + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, forming adjectives from nouns), probably modelled after monolithic; according to the Oxford English Dictionary the word is first attested earlier than megalith. It is analysable as megalith + -ic.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: megalític — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Finnish: megaliittinen — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • French: mégalithique — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Galician: megalítico — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Georgian: მეგალითური (megalituri) — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Greek: μεγαλιθικός (megalithikós) — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Irish: meigiliteach — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Italian: megalitico — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Norwegian Bokmål: megalittisk — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: megalittisk — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Russian: мегалитический (megalitičeskij) — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Spanish: megalítico — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Swedish: megalitisk — of or pertaining to megaliths
  • Ukrainian: мегаліти́чний (mehalitýčnyj) — of or pertaining to megaliths
Real reading context

megalithic in complete knowledge articles