Nevis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small volcanic island in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, politically joined with Saint Kitts ; a river in western Scotland that flows through the glen beneath Ben Nevis
2. An island in the eastern Caribbean that forms part of a federation with Saint Kitts ; a Scottish river rising in the mountains and running through a glen near the highest peak in Britain
3. A volcanic Caribbean island in the Leeward chain sharing a state with Saint Kitts ; a Highland river in Scotland that flows past the foot of a famous mountain

Etymology: Nevis is a small volcanic island in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, and its name comes from a religious image rather than from anything about its appearance. The Spanish called it Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, "Our Lady of the Snows," after a Marian title, and the island's name is a shortened form of that title, drawn from the Spanish word "nieves," meaning "snows." The name is a clipped survivor of a longer Spanish dedication. Nothing about the tropical island is snowy, so the English-speaking world has long kept only the final fragment of a devotional phrase, much as many place names outlast the sentences they were first part of.