Etymologically
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avalanche

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈævəlɑːnʃ/ (UK); /ˈævəlæn(t)ʃ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French avalanche,[2][3][4] from a dialect word of the Alps: Etymonline gives Romansch avalantze “descent”, Merriam-Webster Franco-Provençal lavantse, avalantse and Random House Savoy avalantse.[2][3][5] The older form lavantse was altered under the influence of Old French avaler “to go down”,[2][4][5] from à val “to the valley”.[4] Its source may be a pre-Latin Alpine word, perhaps Ligurian *lavanca,[2][5][4] though some derive it from Late Latin lābīna “landslide”, from Latin lābī “to slide”.[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large mass of snow, mixed with earth and ice, sliding swiftly down a mountainside.[7][2] The OED's first quotation is from 1765, Etymonline's date is 1763, and Merriam-Webster and Barnhart give 1771.[7][2][3][4] Barnhart also records the earlier forms valancas (1765) and valanche (1766).[4]

Semantic evolution

The word was later extended to falls of rock and landslides,[2] and figuratively (by 1850) to any sudden overwhelming rush, as of mail or work.[7][3][5] In physics it names a cumulative ionization process in which each collision produces more charged particles.[3][5] The verb is recorded from 1855 by Merriam-Webster and from 1872 by the OED and Etymonline.[3][7][2]

Timeline

  • 1765 – a mass of snow and ice sliding down a mountain.[7]
  • 1850 – transferred and figurative use.[7]
  • 1855 – verb, to descend like an avalanche.[3]
  • 1877 – avalanche lily and other combinations.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A large mass of snow, ice, earth or rock falling or sliding swiftly down a mountainside.
  2. A sudden, overwhelming quantity or rush of something.
  3. (physics) A cumulative process in which accelerated charged particles produce further particles through collisions.

Verb

  1. To fall or come down like an avalanche.
  2. To overwhelm or flood.

Word family

  • Townsend avalanche
  • avalanche lily

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press