Broch

//ˈbɹɑx// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A type of Iron Age stone tower with hollow double-layered walls found on Orkney, Shetland, in the Hebrides and parts of the Scottish mainland.

    "Finella's carles builded the Kaimes, a long line of battlements under the hills, midway a tower that was older still, a broch from the days of the Pictish men […]."

Example

More examples

"Finella's carles builded the Kaimes, a long line of battlements under the hills, midway a tower that was older still, a broch from the days of the Pictish men […]."

Etymology

From Scots broch, from Old Norse borg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz. Doublet of borough and burgh.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.