massif

See also: mâssif

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French massif, from Middle French massif, from Latin massa, from Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “barley-cake, lump (of dough)”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /mæˈsiːf/
  • Rhymes: -iːf

Noun

massif (plural massifs)

  1. A principal mountain mass.
  2. A block of the earth's crust bounded by faults or flexures and displaced as a unit without internal change; normally consists of gneisses and schists
    • 2011, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead:
      The southern borders of these states are keyed to the same horizontal projection, one surveyed by the frontier planter William Byrd in 1728, while the rivers forming their northern extents fall back just opposite each other from the flanks of the Appalachian massif.

Translations
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Translations to be checked

French

Etymology

masse (“mass”) +‎ -if

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ma.sif/
  • audio(file)

Noun

massif m (plural massifs)

  1. massif

Adjective

massif (feminine singular massive, masculine plural massifs, feminine plural massives)

  1. massive

Further reading

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle French massif; equivalent to mass +‎ -if.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈmasif/

Adjective

massif

  1. (Late Middle English) weighty, massy, weighing very much.
  2. (Late Middle English, rare) massive, huge, enormous.
  3. (Late Middle English, rare) not sharp, unsharpened, coarse.

Descendants

References
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