alp en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ælp/
- (US) audio
Etymology
Late Middle English, back-formation from alps pl, via French from Latin Alpes (“high mountains, especially those of Switzerland”). Compare Old Saxon elbon (“Alps”), Old High German Alpūn (“Alps”); Old High German alba (“alp, mountain”)).
Meanings
-
A very high mountain. Specifically, one of the Alps, the highest chain of mountains in Europe.
Nor breath of Vernal Air from ſnowy Alp.
1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 42, line 529:There is a great alp of sand, one hundred metres high, between the pines and the ocean, […]
1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:Hills peep o'er Hills, and Alps on Alps ariſe!
1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC, page 15:
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An alpine meadow.
At the alp of Khyarkuti, a wide flat at the junction of several glens[…]
1942, Marco Pallis, Peaks and Lamas, page 54:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| alps | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
alpinely · alpland · alpine · alpinist · alpinism
Translations (4)
de Alm (very high mountain) · fi alppi (very high mountain) · pt alpe (very high mountain) · sv alp (very high mountain)