Word of the Day

: June 25, 2013

inselberg

noun IN-sul-berg

What It Means

: an isolated mountain

inselberg in Context

My favorite photograph in the collection is a breathtaking shot of a pride of lions set against a backdrop of a jutting inselberg.

"Oke-Idanre hill consists of high plain with spectacular valleys interspersed with inselbergs of about 3,000 ft above sea level." - From an article in Africa News, August 4, 2012

Did You Know?

"Inselberg," which first appeared in English in 1913, comes from the German words "Insel," meaning "island," and "Berg," meaning "mountain," apparently because German explorers thought isolated mountains rising from the plains of southern Africa looked like islands in the midst of the ocean. Geologically speaking, an inselberg is a hill of hard volcanic rock that has resisted wind and weather and remained strong and tall as the land around it eroded away. Ayers Rock and Olga Rocks in central Australia are two spectacular examples of inselbergs. The word "monadnock," derived from the name of Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire, is a synonym of "inselberg."