A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by very early inhabitants associated with the Brit Isles obviously as a sepulchral monument
- a mound of stones piled-up as a memorial or even mark a boundary or course
- little rough-haired breed of terrier from Scotland
- A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early residents regarding the Brit Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument.
- a pile of rocks heaped up as a landmark, or even to arrest interest, as in surveying, or in making traces of a checking out celebration, etc.
1530s, from Scottish carne, from Gaelic carn "heap of rocks, rugged mountain," comparable to Gaulish karnon "horn," maybe from PIE *ker-n- "highest part of the human body, horn," thus "tip, peak" (see horn (n.)).
In Ireland, where the long barrow form is all but unknown, the round barrow or chambered cairn prevailed from the earliest Pagan period till the introduction of Christianity.