Storr

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tall, isolated pillar or pinnacle of rock, often rising steeply from a hillside or ridge
2. A towering, jagged column of stone standing apart from the surrounding slopes of a hill
3. A steep, spire-like rock formation projecting upward, typical of certain northern hills and cliffs

Etymology: The Storr is a jagged crag on the Isle of Skye, and the common noun for a steep rock pinnacle seems to take its name from that landscape feature. The likely source is Old Norse "stórr", meaning "great" or "big", which is related to the Old English "stōr", meaning strong, robust, or great. That older sense survives in Middle English "storre" and in surnames such as Storey and Storrs. A related German word, Middle High German "storr", meant a tree stump or clod of earth, and it may share this root. The stump and the pinnacle both suggest a blunt, upright mass, though the connection is uncertain.