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monticule

/ˈmɑntɪˌkyul/
IPA guide

Other forms: monticules

Monticule is a fancy word for a small hill or mound. Mount Everest is definitely not a monticule, but that pile of snow left by a snowplow in the parking lot certainly qualifies!

Monticule entered English around 1800 from the Latin monticulus, which combines monti-, "mountain," with the diminutive suffix -culus, "small." Originally, it described a small, secondary cone of a volcano. Today, it's often used more generally — or even humorously — to describe any minor elevation, even a bump: "The sudden collision with the open cupboard door caused a painful monticule to arise on her forehead."

Definitions of monticule
  1. noun
    a small mountain, hill, or mound
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