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

They are always a danger, like the snow cornice and the névé.

From The Silent Barrier by Tracy, Louis

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

They were quite invisible, being covered with a thin crust of hardened névé without a sign of a crack in it.

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

The snow of the closed side is composed of coarse granules compacted and frozen into a firm, faintly stratified mass, like the névé of a glacier.

From The Mountains of California by Muir, John

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