névé

American  

[ney-vey] / neɪˈveɪ /

noun

1. granular snow accumulated on high mountains and subsequently compacted into glacial ice.

2. a field of such snow.

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névé British  

/ ˈnɛveɪ /

noun

1. Also called: firn.  a mass of porous ice, formed from snow, that has not yet become frozen into glacier ice

2. a snowfield at the head of a glacier that becomes transformed into ice

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névé Scientific  

/ nā-vā′ /

1. The upper part of a glacier, consisting of hardened snow.

2. The granular snow typically found in such a field.

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Etymology

Origin of névé

1850–55; < Franco-Provençal < Vulgar Latin *nivātum, noun use of neuter of Latin nivātus snow-cooled, equivalent to niv- (stem of nix snow ) + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

névé

All of these crevasses were covered with a thin crust of hardened névé which had not a sign of a crack in it.

From The Voyages of Captain Scott : Retold from the Voyage of the Discovery and Scott's Last Expedition by Turley, Charles

The uppermost crevasse, or "bergschrund," where the névé was attached to the mountain, was from 12 to 14 feet wide, and was bridged in a few places by the remains of snow avalanches.

From The Mountains of California by Muir, John

This air is finally surrounded from all sides by the cementation of the granules of névé, through the freezing of the water that penetrates it.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 74, December, 1863 by Various

The last mile, névé predominating and therefore the pulling a trifle harder, we have risen into the upper basin of the glacier.

From Scott's Last Expedition Volume I by Scott, Robert Falcon

Christmas Day, however, brought more trouble from crevasses—'very hard, smooth névé between high ridges at the edge of crevasses, and therefore very difficult to get foothold to pull the sledges.'

From The Voyages of Captain Scott : Retold from the Voyage of the Discovery and Scott's Last Expedition by Turley, Charles