The word 'henge' is in the news (eg here) because a new one has just been discovered at Stonehenge. The structure may be ancient, but the word isn't; it dates back only to the 18th century, although the name Stonehenge goes back to the Anglo-Saxon period. 'Henge' is probably related to the verb 'hang' and is a reference to monuments that appear to hang or be suspended in the air because of the horizontal lintels across the top of the stones. As the first (1740) citation in the OED by W Stukeley says: "Stonehenge in Saxon signifies the hanging stone".
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July 22, 2010
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