nuraghe

[ noo-rah-gey ]

noun

, plural nu·ra·ghi [noo-, rah, -gee], nu·ra·ghes.

1. any of the large, tower-shaped, prehistoric stone structures found in Sardinia and dating from the second millennium b.c. to the Roman conquest of Sardinia in 238 b.c.

Other Words From

• nu·raghic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nuraghe¹

First recorded in 1820–30; from Sardinian; of obscure origin (presumably pre- Latin )

Example Sentences

The island’s landscape of wrinkled, ancient looking mountains and rugged but gorgeous coastlines is dotted with mysterious millennia-old stone structures called nuraghe.

From New York Times

The Nuraghe to which our steps were directed proved to be a very picturesque object, rising out of a thicket of shrubs, with tufts growing in the crevices of the tower, which on one side was dilapidated.

From Project Gutenberg

Opinions as to the purposes for which the Nuraghe were erected are as various as those regarding their origin.

From Project Gutenberg

Another hypothesis treats the Nuraghe as monuments commemorating heroes or great national events, whether in peace or war; forgetting, as Father Bresciani suggests, the centuries that must have elapsed while the mountains, and hills, and plains of Sardinia were being successively crowned with monuments of this description.

From Project Gutenberg

Such was the form of the first great building on record, the Tower of Babel, as we have it represented; the type in many respects of the Sarde Nuraghe.

From Project Gutenberg