Brocken

American  

[brok-uhn, brawk-uhn] / ˈbrɒk ən, ˈbrɔk ən /

noun

1. a mountain in N central Germany: the highest peak in the Harz Mountains. 3,745 feet (1,140 meters).

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Brocken British  

/ ˈbrɔkən /

noun

1. a mountain in central Germany: the highest peak of the Harz Mountains; important in German folklore. Height: 1142 m (3747 ft). The Brocken Bow or Brocken Spectre is an atmospheric phenomenon in which an observer, when the sun is low, may see his enlarged shadow against the clouds, often surrounded by coloured lights

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Example Sentences

According to the Met Office, a Brocken spectre is a large shadow of an observer cast onto cloud or mist and is named after the German mountain on which is was first noted.

From BBC • Dec. 26, 2023

The Brocken is the highest peak in the Harz Mountains.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2015

The Brocken is cloud or mist-covered for 300 days a year, according to travel website Germany is Wunderbar, and wrapped in old superstitions and fairytales involving witches.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2015

Now, as recompense, quixotic Mrs. Brocken proposes to turn all her money over to poor, nasty Tilly.

From Time Magazine Archive

But we no more doubt his existence than that of the spectre of the Brocken.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 382, October 1847 by Various