volcano

See also: Volcano

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

    From Italian vulcano, from Vulcano (a small volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea), from Latin Vulcānus (Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking). Doublet of bolcane and Vulcan.

    Pronunciation

    • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /vɒlˈkeɪ.nəʊ/, (obsolete) /vɒlˈkɑː.nəʊ/[1]
    • (General American) IPA(key): /vɑlˈkeɪ.noʊ/, /vɔlˈkeɪ.noʊ/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • (Indic) IPA(key): /ˈvɔlkəno/

    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)‎[1], volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 10.572, page 304.

    Further reading

    Portuguese

    Alternative forms

    Noun

    volcano m (plural volcanos)

    1. obsolete form of vulcão