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

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

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

For I hate the long snow-fields, the vast plains of névé with their glare and their infinite infernal monotony.

From A Tramp's Notebook by Roberts, Morley

In a glacial district this snow mass above the melting line is called the névé.

From Outlines of the Earth's History A Popular Study in Physiography by Shaler, Nathaniel Southgate

In an ordinary Alpine region the névé districts, where the snow gathers, are relatively small.

From Outlines of the Earth's History A Popular Study in Physiography by Shaler, Nathaniel Southgate