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dune

[doon, dyoon]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dune ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sand hill or sand ridge formed by the wind, usually in desert regions or near lakes and oceans.

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RELATED WORDS

ridge, knoll, hillock, hummock

Nearby words

  1. dunder,
  2. dunderhead,
  3. dunderpate,
  4. dundonian,
  5. dundrearies,
  6. dune buggy,
  7. dune-buggy,
  8. dunedin,
  9. duneland,
  10. dunfermline

Origin of dune

1780–90; < French, Old French < Middle Dutch dūna; cognate with down3
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dune

British Dictionary definitions for dune

dune

noun

a mound or ridge of drifted sand, occurring on the sea coast and in deserts

Word Origin for dune

C18: via Old French from Middle Dutch dūne; see down ³
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for dune

dune

n.

1790, from French, Middle Dutch or Middle Low German dune, all perhaps from Gaulish *dunom (thus related to down (n.2)). The French dune "sand hill" (13c.) is held by Diez to be an Old French borrowing from Dutch duin or some other Germanic source. Italian and Spanish duna are from French. Dune buggy attested by 1965.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Science definitions for dune

dune

[dōōn]

A hill or ridge of wind-blown sand. Dunes are capable of moving by the motion of their individual grains but usually keep the same shape. See more at barchan dune draa longitudinal dune seif dune transverse dune.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.