Snowlines

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The elevation on a mountain above which snow stays all year long ; the boundary marking where permanent snow cover begins on a map
2. The height above which snow never fully melts on high ground ; the line drawn to show where that permanent snow cover starts
3. The altitude where snow persists through every season on a slope ; the contour on a chart indicating that permanent snowfield boundary

Etymology: "Snowlines" is simply the plural of "snowline," so its history is that of the noun it inflects. A snowline is the boundary on a mountain or in a polar region above which snow lies year-round, and the word is built from the two plain English elements "snow" and "line," joined as a compound. The compound describes exactly what it names: a line drawn by the snow. Plural forms of such compounds are formed in the regular way, adding an "s" to the final element, so the plural refers to several such boundaries, whether on different mountain ranges or in different regions of the world.

Synonyms: snow line