Dictionary

firn en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /fɪə(ɹ)n/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• /fɪəɹn/ (US)
• /fɪɹn/ (US)

Etymology

Borrowed from German Firn, from Alemannic German firn (“last year's”), from Old High German firni (“old”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *firnijaz, *fernaz (“foregoing, previous”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forth, forward, across, through”); cognate with Old English fyrn (“former”), Old Norse forn (“old”), and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍃 (fairneis, “old”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles and thus is made of numerous small icy grains, though it is not nearly as saturated with water as snowcone slush is; can be hard or somewhat soft depending on recent and current weather conditions.

Forms

Deriveds

firnification

Synonyms

névé

Translations (22)

ru фирн (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · cs firn (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · sk firn (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · ar ثَلْج حُبَيْبَي (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · be зерналёд (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · ru се́рень (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · ru серён (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · pl firn (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · be фірн (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · orv серенъ (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · sl ledeniški srenec (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · gsw Fiire (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · fi firn-lumi (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · it nevato (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · ru серена́ (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · sv firnsnö (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · bg фирн (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · de Firn (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · fi firn (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · sv firn (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · fr névé (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles) · ru се́рен (A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles)