massif

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A principal mountain mass.
  2. A block of the earth's crust bounded by faults or flexures and displaced as a unit without internal change; normally consists of gneisses and schists.

Pronunciation

/mæˈsiːf/ /ˈmæsɪf/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-massif.wav LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-massif2.wav

Word forms

massif massifs

Etymology

Borrowed from French massif, from Middle French massif, ultimately from Latin massa, from Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “barley-cake, lump (of dough)”).

Derived words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.