See also: Volcano

English edit

 
Volcano on an island (Stromboli)

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Italian vulcano and French volcan, from Latin Vulcanus (Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking). Doublet of bolcane.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

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 edit

Hyponyms edit

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • Bislama: volkeno
  • Scottish Gaelic: bholcàno
  • Swahili: volkano, volkeno

Translations edit

See also edit

Verb edit

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 edit

  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 edit