Etymograph

English

cairn

Cairn comes from Old Irish carn, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- ‘horn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-1‘horn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*karnos1reconstructed
  3. Old Irishc. 600–900carn1
  4. Scottish Gaelicmoderncàrn1
  5. Scotsc. 1450–presentcairn1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1826cairn1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cairn
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1826, Thomas Campbell, Glenara: “"Now here let us place the gray stone of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-Wiktionary, English cairn‘horn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*karnosWiktionary, English cairnreconstructed
  3. Old Irishc. 600–900carnWiktionary, English cairn
  4. Scottish GaelicmoderncàrnWiktionary, English cairn
  5. Scotsc. 1450–presentcairnWiktionary, English cairn
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1826cairnWiktionary, English cairn. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1826, Thomas Campbell, Glenara: “"Now here let us place the gray stone of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- ‘horn’

cheer, hart, horn, cerebral, crater, grail, migraine, corny, procrastinate, cerebellum, cornea, carotid, cranium, keratin, cornet, cerebrum, rother, 51 more

Today it means

noun A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cairn”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- / cairn

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