cairn

Etymology

From Scots cairn, from Scottish Gaelic càrn, from Old Irish carn, from Proto-Celtic *karnos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“horn”). Compare Welsh carn, Cornish carn. Doublet of carn and horn.

noun

1. A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument.
   "Now here let us place the gray stone of her cairn: / Why speak ye no word!"—said Glenara the stern. 1826, Thomas Campbell, “Glenara”, in The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, page 105
2. A pile of stones heaped up as a landmark, to guide travelers on land or at sea, or to arrest attention, as in surveying, or in leaving traces of an exploring party, etc.
   After fifteen minutes of this we were glad to reach a high saddle on which former travellers had piled little cairns of commemoration and thankfulness. 1926, T. E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 180
3. A cairn terrier.