a circular stone tower built around the beginning of the Christian era, having an inner and an outer wall, found on the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, the Hebrides, and the mainland of Scotland.
(in Scotland) a circular dry-stone tower large enough to serve as a fortified home; they date from the Iron Age and are found esp in the north and the islands
Word Origin
C17: from Old Norse borg; related to Old English burh settlement, burgh
Word Origin and History for broch
n.
prehistoric stone tower of the Scottish Highland and isles, 1650s, from Scottish broch, from Old Norse borg "castle," cognate with Old English burh (see borough).