cirque
Noun: 1. A steep-walled, bowl-shaped hollow at the head of a valley or on a mountainside, typically formed by glacial erosion. This is the primary geological meaning. It often resembles a semicircular amphitheater with steep cliffs on three sides. 2. (Archaic/Literary) A circular arrangement, such as an arena or a circle. This older usage is now rare.
The word "cirque" is a specialized term used primarily in geology, physical geography, and mountaineering contexts. It describes a specific, dramatic landform created by glaciers.
- Noun (Geology):
- The hikers reached the stunning cirque, its sheer walls towering above a small, turquoise lake.
- Glacial cirques are common features in alpine regions like the Alps and the Rocky Mountains.
- The classic shape of a cirque is often described as an armchair or an amphitheater carved into the mountain.
- Compound Form: "Cirque lake" (also called a tarn) refers to the body of water that often occupies the floor of a cirque after the glacier has melted.
- We stopped for lunch beside the serene cirque lake.
- Corrie (noun): A synonym for cirque, commonly used in Scotland and Ireland.
- Cwm (noun): A synonym for cirque, commonly used in Wales.
- Cirque glacier (noun): A small glacier that occupies or formed a cirque.
- (Geology) Corrie, cwm, glacial amphitheater.
The modern, dominant meaning is the geological one. The archaic meaning of "arena" or "circle" is largely obsolete and would only be encountered in historical or poetic texts. In contemporary English, "cirque" almost exclusively refers to the glacial landform.
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a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain; may contain a lake
