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 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

This supposition is easily confirmed: by observing the field we find that the sheet is everywhere drawing away from the cliffs, leaving a deep fissure between the névé and the precipices.

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

The menacing séracs leaned from the cliffs, glittering icily, and threw black shadows upon the névé beneath, but suffered us to pass unmolested.

From McClure's Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 6, May, 1896 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

This region is called the region of the névé.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 73, November, 1863 by Various