Sastruga is a wavelike ridge of hard snow formed by the wind, usually used in the plural.
Sastruga es una cresta ondulada de nieve dura formada por el viento, generalmente utilizada en plural.
| Word | sastruga |
|---|---|
| Date | December 16, 2009 |
| Type | noun |
| Syllables | SAS-truh-guh |
| Etymology | If "sastruga" and its plural "sastrugi" seem like unusual English words, that may be because in some ways they are. Many of the words we use in English can be traced to one of two sources: about one-quarter of our vocabulary can be traced back to English's Germanic origins, and another two-thirds comes from Latinate sources (most such words come by way of French or from Latin directly, but Spanish and Italian have made their contributions as well). "Sastruga" was borrowed from German, but is not Germanic in origin. It’s originally from "zastruga," a word that comes from a dialect of Russian and means "groove," "small ridge," or "furrow." "Sastruga" is not widely used in English, and when it is used, it often takes the plural form, as in our example sentence. |
| Examples | "Over the sastrugi it is all up and down hill, and the covering of ice crystals prevents the sledge from gliding even on the down-grade." (Robert Falcon Scott, Journals: Captain Scott’s Last Expedition) |
| Definition | : a wavelike ridge of hard snow formed by the wind -- usually used in plural |
Tags: wordoftheday::noun
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