tu·mu·lus

(to͞o′myə-ləs, tyo͞o′-)

n. pl. tu·mu·li (-lī′)

An ancient grave mound; a barrow.

[Latin; see teuə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tumulus

(ˈtjuːmjʊləs)

n, pl -li (-liː)

(Archaeology) archaeol (no longer in technical usage) another word for barrow²

[C17: from Latin: a hillock, from tumēre to swell up]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tu•mu•lus

(ˈtu myə ləs, ˈtyu-)

n., pl. -lus•es, -li (-ˌlaɪ)

an artificial mound, esp. over a grave; barrow.

[1680–90; < Latin: mound, swelling =tum(ēre) to swell + -ulus -ule]

tu′mu•lar, tu′mu•lous, tu′mu•lose` (-ˌloʊs) adj.

tumulus

, barrow - A tumulus is the mound of earth placed over a tomb, synonymous with barrow.

tumulus

An ancient grave mound or barrow.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

tumulus - (archeology) a heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs

burial mound, grave mound, barrow

hill, mound - structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones; "they built small mounds to hide behind"

archaeology, archeology - the branch of anthropology that studies prehistoric people and their cultures

Translations

tumulo

tumulus

[ˈtjuːmjʊləs] N (tumuli (pl)) [ˈtjuːmjʊlaɪ] → túmulo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

tumulus

n → Tumulus m, → Grabhügel m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The Celtic dolmen and cromlech, the Etruscan tumulus, the Hebrew galgal, are words.

View in context

In the centre was a hillock or tumulus, surmounted by a scorched hawthorn.

View in context

It is a town "familiar with forgotten years." The shadow of the Saxon hero-king still walks there fitfully, reviewing the scenes of his youth and love-time, and is met by the gloomier shadow of the dreadful heathen Dane, who was stabbed in the midst of his warriors by the sword of an invisible avenger, and who rises on autumn evenings like a white mist from his tumulus on the hill, and hovers in the court of the old hall by the river-side, the spot where he was thus miraculously slain in the days before the old hall was built.

View in context

The five animals - supplied by the inner city Mudchute Park & Farm and made up of Oxford Down and Norfolk Horn breeds - have been set to work in a fenced-off area known as the Tumulus, the last resting place of Queen Boadicea, according to legend.

Heath role for star-grazers

The statement was perceived as provocative, and source of escalation in the tumulus discussions between the two sides.

Sudan's military council hints at early election in six month

Certains chercheurs voient dans tous ces monuments des evolutions des tumulus - simples amas de pierre au-dessus d'une tombe - puis des bazinas, constructions funeraires de pierres seches communes au Maghreb et au Sahara, vieilles de plusieurs milliers d'annees.

Vieilles de 16 siecles, les "pyramides" de Tiaret gardent de nombreux mysteres

Jewellery, 13th-15th century, excavated from tumulus 7, Durbi Takusheyi, Nigeria, gold.

Conjuring the past: Kathleen Bickford Berzock on African art in the Middle Ages

The UCY annual field campaign on the tumulus of Laona at Palaepaphos which took place in June and September lasted four weeks.

CYPRUS: Excavation unearths mysteries of unique ancient tumulus

Such is the case with a bronze kline acquired by the Getty in 1982, following the reported looting of a bronze bed from a tumulus at Alahidir, west of Sardis (pp.

Couched in Death: Klinai and Identity in Anatolia and Beyond

Details of the tumuli cemeteries along the Atacama Desert coast: (A) Punta Grande 02; (B) Funerary context from Las Loberas 01; (C) Ceramic vessels and decorated basket from Las Loberas 01 (Ballester and Clarot 2014:102,70); (D) Diagram oof the profile cut oof the funerary architecture of a tumulus (modified from Spahni 1967:Pl.II,C).

EFECTOS COLATERALES DE LA TRANSICION AL FORMATIVO: UNA NUEVA CULINARIA ENTRE LOS CAZADORES-RECOLECTORES MARINOS DEL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA

Background: Mesobuthus tumulus (red scorpion, MBT) envenomation is a serious health problem in tropical countries and is responsible for high morbidity and mortality.

Role of vagus in mediating the toxicity induced by Mesobuthus tamulus venom in rats