volcano

See also: Volcano

English

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

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