avalanche

== English == === Etymology === From French avalanche, from Franco-Provençal (Savoy) avalançhe, blend of aval (“downhill”) and standard lavençhe, from Vulgar Latin *labanka (compare Occitan lavanca, Italian valanga), of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of Late Latin lābīna (“landslide”) (compare Franco-Provençal (Dauphiné) lavino, Romansch lavina), from Latin lābēs, from lābor (“to slip, slide”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈævəlɑːnʃ/ (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈævəlæn(t)ʃ/ === Noun === avalanche (plural avalanches) A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice. Synonyms: snowslide, snowslip A fall of earth, rocks, etc., similar to that of an avalanche of snow or ice. (by extension) A sudden, great, or irresistible descent or influx; anything like an avalanche in suddenness and overwhelming quantity. Synonyms: barrage, blitz ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === avalanche (third-person singular simple present avalanches, present participle avalanching, simple past and past participle avalanched) (intransitive) To descend like an avalanche. (transitive) To come down upon; to overwhelm. (transitive) To propel downward like an avalanche. ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === “avalanche”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “avalanche”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. == French == === Etymology === Borrowed from Franco-Provençal avalançhe (Savoy), blend of aval (“downhill”) and standard lavençhe, from Vulgar Latin *labanka (compare Occitan lavanca, Italian valanga), alteration of Late Latin labina (“landslide”) (compare (Dauphiné) Franco-Provençal lavino, Romansch lavina), from Latin lābor (“to slip, slide”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /a.va.lɑ̃ʃ/ === Noun === avalanche f (plural avalanches) avalanche ==== Descendants ==== → English: avalanche → Galician: avalancha → Portuguese: avalanche, avalancha → Romanian: avalanșă → Spanish: avalancha === Further reading === “avalanche”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 == Portuguese == === Alternative forms === avalancha === Etymology === Borrowed from French avalanche, from Savoyard Franco-Provençal avalançhe. === Pronunciation === Hyphenation: a‧va‧lan‧che === Noun === avalanche f (plural avalanches) avalanche (large mass of snow sliding down a mountain side) Synonym: alude (figurative) (sudden, great, or irresistible influx of anything) === References === === Further reading === “avalanche”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026