Editing Stonehenge (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Stonehenge Lucas de Heere.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The earliest-known realistic painting of Stonehenge, drawn on site with [[watercolour]]s by [[Lucas de Heere]] between 1573 and 1575]]
The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' cites [[Ælfric of Eynsham|Ælfric]]'s 10th-century glossary, in which ''henge-cliff'' is given the meaning {{gloss|precipice}}, or stone; thus, the ''stanenges'' or ''Stanheng'' "not far from [[Salisbury]]" recorded by 11th-century writers are "stones supported in the air". In 1740, [[William Stukeley]] notes: "Pendulous rocks are now called henges in Yorkshire&nbsp;... I doubt not, Stonehenge in Saxon signifies the hanging stones."<ref name="OEDhenge">{{cite book |title=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordenglishdic0008unse |chapter-url-access = registration |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1989 |edition=2nd |chapter=Stonehenge; henge<sup>2</sup>}}</ref> [[Christopher Chippindale]]'s ''Stonehenge Complete'' gives the derivation of the name ''Stonehenge'' as coming from the [[Old English]] words {{lang|ang|stān}} {{gloss|stone}}, and either {{lang|ang|hencg}} {{gloss|[[hinge]]}} (because the stone [[lintel]]s hinge on the upright stones) or {{lang|ang|hen(c)en}} {{gloss|[[hanging|to hang]]}} or {{gloss|[[gallows]]}} or {{gloss|instrument of torture}} (though elsewhere in his book, Chippindale cites the {{gloss|suspended stones}} etymology).<ref>{{cite book |last=Chippindale |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Chippindale |title=Stonehenge Complete |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London |date=2004 |isbn=0-500-28467-9}}</ref>

The "henge" portion has given its name to a class of monuments known as [[henge]]s.<ref name="OEDhenge" /> Archaeologists define henges as earthworks consisting of a circular banked enclosure with an internal ditch.<ref>{{cite web |title=Henges |at=1: Definition |work=Monument Class Descriptions |publisher=[[English Heritage]] |date=2000 |url= http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/sub/henges1.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121116081132/http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/sub/henges1.htm |archive-date=16 November 2012}}</ref> As often happens in archaeological terminology, this is a holdover from [[antiquarian]] use.