peneplain

American  

[pee-nuh-pleyn, pee-nuh-pleyn] / ˈpi nəˌpleɪn, ˌpi nəˈpleɪn /

Or peneplane

noun

Geology.

1. an area reduced almost to a plain by erosion.

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peneplain British  

/ ˈpiːnɪˌpleɪn, ˌpiːnɪˈpleɪn /

noun

1. a relatively flat land surface produced by a long period of erosion

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Other Word Forms

• peneplanation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of peneplain

First recorded in 1885–90; pene- + plain ¹

Example Sentences

Peace does not reign in a science, they say, until its peaks and valleys have worn to a featureless peneplain grazed by placid ruminants.

From Time Magazine Archive

Geologists call it a peneplain, which means nearly-a-plain; it is from fragmentary remains of peneplains that they trace ranges long ages washed away.

From The Book of the National Parks by Yard, Robert Sterling

Geologists tell us that the great Appalachian chain has been in the course of the ages reduced almost to a base level or peneplain, and then reelevated and its hills and mountains carved out anew.

From Time and Change by Burroughs, John

How may a plain of marine abrasion be expected to differ from a peneplain in its mantle of waste?

From The Elements of Geology by Norton, William Harmon

We have already studied a very ancient peneplain whose edge is exposed to view deep on the walls of the Colorado Canyon.

From The Elements of Geology by Norton, William Harmon