volcano

See also: Volcano

English

Volcano on an island (Stromboli)

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Italian vulcano and French volcan, from Latin Vulcanus (Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking). Doublet of bolcane.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /vɒl.ˈkeɪ.nəʊ/, (obsolete) /vɒl.ˈkɑː.nəʊ/[1]
  • (General American) IPA(key): /vɑl.ˈkeɪ.noʊ/, /vɔl.ˈkeɪ.noʊ/
  • (file)

Noun

volcano (plural volcanoes or volcanos)

  1. A vent or fissure on the surface of a planet (usually in a mountainous form) with a magma chamber attached to the mantle of a planet or moon, periodically erupting forth lava and volcanic gases onto the surface.
    Iceland's volcanoes are among the most active on Earth.
  2. A kind of firework producing an upward plume of sparks.

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Bislama: volkeno
  • Scottish Gaelic: bholcàno
  • Swahili: volkano, volkeno

Translations

See also

Verb

volcano (third-person singular simple present volcanos or volcanoes, present participle volcanoing, simple past and past participle volcanoed)

  1. to erupt; to burst forth
    • 1951, Phyllis Hambledon, Nobody's Child:
      She shrank back, the words volcanoed, words that stabbed again, and yet again
    • 2012, George Pratt, Peter Lambrou, John David Mann, Code to Joy: The Four-Step Solution to Unlocking Your Natural State of Happiness:
      Startled, you look up at the horizon just in time to see a gigantic plume of ash and dust volcanoing up into the sky and spreading out to form a gigantic cloud that will persist for days, weeks, perhaps years.

References

  1. Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9), volumes I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 10.572, page 304.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.