Tepuis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Flat-topped table mountain with steep cliffs, found in the Guiana Highlands of South America and often home to unique wildlife
2. A steep-sided, flat-summited mountain rising from the ancient rock plateaus of northern South America
3. Isolated tabletop peak of the Guiana Shield, whose sheer sandstone walls rise sharply above surrounding rainforest

Etymology: The tepuis are the flat-topped sandstone mountains of the Guiana Highlands in southern Venezuela, and their name comes from the Pemon language of the people who live beneath them. The Pemon word "tüpü" refers to a rocky system or mountain, and the Spanish borrowed it as "tepuy," which English later took over in its plural form. The plural here is simply the English "-s" added to the singular "tepui," so the real story lies in the root. A popular belief holds that the name means "house of the gods," because it seems to echo the Pemon "tapüi," meaning "house." Scholars regard this link as an error, and the true sense is the mountain itself, not a dwelling. Some researchers have suggested a distant connection to a Proto-Cariban root meaning "stone," but the Pemon word does not descend directly from it, so that link remains speculative.