Dictionary

tumulus en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈtjuːmjələs/ (UK)
• /ˈtuːmjələs/ (US)

Etymology

From Latin tumulus (“mound, hill”), from tumeō (“to swell”). Doublet of tombolo.

Meanings

1. A mound of earth, especially one placed over a prehistoric tomb; a barrow.
   • The delicate white body will be covered to-day, The tumulus be reared, the green sod give way: And there, oh Cynvarch, thy son they will lay. 1898, Ernest Rhys, “The Lament for Urien from the Herbest”, in Welsh Ballads:
   • They planted the cannon on the tumuli, sole elevations in this level country, and formed themselves into column and hollow square. 1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter I, in The Last Man. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
   • Near Smeinogorsk an octagonal tumulus has been found containing the corpse of a horse near a rectangular one with a human corpse, both within stone circles. 1898, Friedrich Ratzel, The History of Mankind, volume III, London: Macmillan and Co., page 325:
   • The tumulus is one of mankind's oldest burial monuments, dating back to 4,000 to 5,000 years B.C. […] Examples of tumuli can be seen peppering the landscape all over Western Europe. 2004, Douglas Keister, Stories in Stone, Gibbs Smith, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 14:

Forms

Deriveds

tumulous · Tumulus culture

Synonyms

burial mound § Synonyms

Translations (37)

gl medela (mound of earth) · da gravhøj (mound of earth) · ja 古墳 (mound of earth) · gl medoña (mound of earth) · nn gravhaug (mound of earth) · ja 墳丘墓 (mound of earth) · tr tümülüs (mound of earth) · izh kalma (mound of earth) · grc κολώνη (mound of earth) · ru курга́н (mound of earth) · cs mohyla (mound of earth) · la tumulāmen (mound of earth) · sh tumulus (mound of earth) · pl kurhan (mound of earth) · gl tombo (mound of earth) · nb gravhaug (mound of earth) · izh hautapeentara (mound of earth) · ba уба (mound of earth) · gl medorra (mound of earth) · pt túmulo (mound of earth) · ga tuaim (mound of earth) · ga dumha (mound of earth) · bg гробна могила (mound of earth) · es túmulo (mound of earth) · pt mamoa (mound of earth) · fr tumulus (mound of earth) · pl kopiec (mound of earth) · es caballón (mound of earth) · la tumulus (mound of earth) · nl grafheuvel (mound of earth) · ro tumul (mound of earth) · eo tumulo (mound of earth) · gl borróa (mound of earth) · fi hautakumpu (mound of earth) · ga tuama (mound of earth) · io tumulo (mound of earth) · gl mámoa (mound of earth)