sérac

or se·rac

[ si-rak; French sey-rak ]

/ sɪˈræk; French seɪˈrak /

noun, plural sé·racs [si-raks; French sey-rak] /sɪˈræks; French seɪˈrak/.

a large irregularity of glacial ice, as a pinnacle found in glacial crevasses and formed by melting or movement of the ice.

Words nearby sérac

são vicente, sève, sèvres, séance, sémillon, sérac, sévigné, sézary cell, sézary syndrome, sídh, söderblom

Origin of sérac

1855–60; < French sérac kind of white cheese (compare Medieval Latin serācium), ultimately < Latin serum whey

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for serac

Whether a stone underfoot gave way, or whether the Admiral's voice brought down a serac of rotten wall, is not clear.
The Astonishing History of Troy Town|Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
It is heavily crevassed, as though it once formed the serac portion of a glacier.
South!|Sir Ernest Shackleton
Retracing the way out of the broken ice, we steered in a south-westerly direction, just above the line of serac and crevassed ice.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson
For many hours a way was won through a mighty turmoil of serac and over innumerable crevasses with varied fortune.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson

The region was one of serac where the glacier was puckered up, folded and crushed.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson

British Dictionary definitions for serac

sérac

/ (ˈsɛræk) /

noun

a pinnacle of ice among crevasses on a glacier, usually on a steep slope

Word Origin for sérac

C19: from Swiss French: a variety of white cheese (hence the ice that it resembles) from Medieval Latin serācium, from Latin serum whey

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012