Tenerife

or Ten·er·iffe

[ ten-uh-rif, -reef; Spanish te-ne-ree-fe ]

noun

1. the largest of the Canary Islands, off the northwestern coast of Africa. 794 sq. mi. (2,055 sq. km). : Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
2. Pi·co de Tenerife [pee, -koh dey, pee, -kaw , th, e]. Pico de Teide.

Tenerife

/ teneˈrife; ˌtɛnəˈriːf /

noun

1. a Spanish island in the Atlantic, off the NW coast of Africa: the largest of the Canary Islands; volcanic and mountainous; tourism and agriculture. Capital: Santa Cruz. Pop: 778 071 (2002 est). Area: 2058 sq km (795 sq miles)

Word History and Origins

Origin of Tenerife¹

First recorded in 1595–1600; from Guanche (an extinct Berber language spoken on the Canary Islands) tene, teni “mountain” + ife “white,” specifically Mount Teide ( def )

Example Sentences

The largest loss of life in any incident was at Tenerife in 1977 when two Boeing 747s collided in fog, killing 583 people.

From The Daily Beast

From this time to our arrival at Tenerife we had moderate weather and winds mostly from the northward.

From Project Gutenberg

The next day at nine in the forenoon we saw the island of Tenerife bearing west-south-west half west about twelve leagues distant.

From Project Gutenberg

There was a calm all that day and night, and in the morning he found himself between Gomera and Tenerife.

From Project Gutenberg

They saw a great fire issue from the mountain of the island of Tenerife, which is of great height.

From Project Gutenberg

We were not so fortunate on this occasion as to obtain a distant sea view of the far-famed peak of Tenerife.

From Project Gutenberg