mas·sif

(mă-sēf′)

1. A large mountain mass or compact group of connected mountains forming an independent portion of a range.

2. A large section or block of the earth's crust that is more rigid than the surrounding rock and has been moved or displaced as a unit.

[French, massive, massif, from Old French; see massive.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

massif

(ˈmæsiːf; French masif)

1. (Geological Science) a geologically distinct mass of rock or a series of connected masses forming the peaks of a mountain range

2. (Geological Science) a topographically high part of the earth's crust that is bounded by faults and may be shifted by tectonic movements

[C19: from French, noun use of massif massive]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mas•sif

(mæˈsif, ˈmæs ɪf)

n.

1. a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits.

2. a band or zone of the earth's crust raised or depressed as a unit and bounded by faults.

[1515–25; < French, n. use of massif massive]

massif

- A compact group of mountains or a mountain range section; it first meant "building block" and the word massive is derived from that.

massif

A mountain mass of ancient rocks partly dissected into separate peaks.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

massif - a block of the earth's crust bounded by faults and shifted to form peaks of a mountain range

geological formation, formation - (geology) the geological features of the earth

chain of mountains, mountain chain, mountain range, range of mountains, range, chain - a series of hills or mountains; "the valley was between two ranges of hills"; "the plains lay just beyond the mountain range"

Translations

Massiv

massif

גוש הריםמסיףמקשה הרים

massief

массив

massif

[mæˈsiːf] N → macizo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

massif

[ˈmæsiːf] n → massif m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

massif

n (Geog) → (Gebirgs)massiv nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

The family, from the Netherlands, were climbing 12,500ft (3,800m) Mont Dolent, which is part of the Mont Blanc massif.

Mother sees her family die in Alps

Ricco, the Saunier Duval climbing specialist, outfoxed race favourites Alejandro Valverde and Cadel Evans to win by one second in the sixth stage of the Tour - a 195.5km ride through the mid-mountains of the Massif Central.

Cycling: Sports World - Ricco timed his assault to perfection

Artist James Cauty used white emulsion paint to scrawl 'Portslade Massif' across the window and wall of the Ink-d gallery in Brighton, East Sussex.

Cleaners scrubbed out work of art as graffiti

SAINT Jean de Sixt, the charming ski resort in the Haute de Savoie region of the Massif des Aravis, just one hour from Geneva airport, will be hosting its first International Dog Sledding Races on February 17 and 18, 2007.

Travel: Sledding contest

Ladbrokes: 2-1 Snow Ridge, 5-2 North Light, 7-1 Salford City, 8-1 Percussionist, 9-1 American Post, 12-1 Rule Of Law, 14-1 Let The Lion Roar, 16-1 Meath, 22-1 Gatwick, 33-1 Hazyview, Pukka, Elshadi, 100-1 Moscow Ballet, 150-1 Coming Again, Massif Centrale.

Derby betting

Ti-rich granodiorite porphyries from the northeastern margin of the Klenov massif were originally described by Kratochvil and Konta (1951).

Ti-rich granodiorite porphyries from the northeastern margin of the Klenov massif (Moldanubian Zone of the Bohemian Massif)

That's because Mr Ali G has been building his massif over in the big old US of A and can now afford even more signet rings from Elizabeth Duke of Argos.

Television: I IS GOING WEST

The 53-year-old from Devon has been missing since Tuesday after going hiking in the Massif de Belledonne.

Hope fades for climber

The range will be very wide both geographically, and in terms of building types and will include Hans Hollein's Vulcanology Museum in France's Massif Central, and Annette Gigon I Mike Guyer's Kalkriese Archaeological Museum Park in Germany, which evokes the battle of the Teutoburger Wald, where the German Arminius destroyed the legions of the Roman general Quintilius Varus in 9AD.

July. (View)

ALI G - BEFORE HE WAS MASSIF: I'll resist any of those embarrassing attempts to write in Ali-G type speech.

TV:UK: LAUGHTER LINES

Locality: The Vuoriyarvi massif on the north shore of Vuoriyarvi Lake, North Karelia, Murmansk Region, Russia.

Tumchaite