nieve penitente

noun

nie·​ve pen·​i·​ten·​te

nēˈāvāˌpenəˈtentā,

ˈnyāv-

plural nieves penitentes

-vās … tās

: a jagged sometimes curved pinnacle of ice or névé produced by uneven melting of a snowbank or of the surface of a glacier

also : an assemblage of such pinnacles compare serac

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, literally, penitent snow; from the illusion of kneeling human figures

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