atoll

See also: Atoll

English
Satellite picture of the Atafu atoll in Tokelau in the Pacific Ocean

Etymology

From Portuguese atol, from Malayalam അതൊലു (atolu, “reef”) and its source Dhivehi އަތޮޅު‎ (atoḷu), possibly from Prakrit *𑀲𑀁𑀢𑀻𑀞 (*saṃtīṭha), from Sanskrit *संतीर्थ (saṃtīrtha, “level ford”).[1] The traditional etymology from Persian آب‌تل‎ (āb-tal, “water-hillock”) is unlikely.

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈætɒl/, /əˈtɒl/
  • Audio (Berkshire, UK)(file)
  • Audio (Berkshire, UK)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈætɔl/, /ˈætɑl/, /ˈætoʊl/, /ˈeɪtɑl/, /ˈeɪtɔl/, /əˈtɑl/
  • Rhymes: -ɒl

Noun

atoll (plural atolls)

  1. a type of island consisting of a ribbon reef that nearly or entirely surrounds a lagoon and supports, in most cases, one to many islets on the reef platform. Atolls have a unique geology, so not all islands with a reef and a lagoon are atolls

Derived terms

Translations

References
  1. Jost Gippert (2013), “An Outline of the History of Maldivian Writing”, in Shu-Fen Chen; Benjamin Slade, editors, Grammatica et verba: Glamor and verve: Studies in South Asian, historical, and Indo-European linguistics in honor of Hans Henrich Hock, Ann Arbor: Beech Stave Press, →ISBN, page 88.

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /a.tɔl/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

atoll m (plural atolls)

  1. atoll

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål
Malé in the Maldives, built on an atoll

Etymology

From Dhivehi އަތޮޅު‎ (atoḷu), via English atoll.

Noun

atoll m (definite singular atollen, indefinite plural atoller, definite plural atollene)

  1. an atoll

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Dhivehi އަތޮޅު‎ (atoḷu) and Maldivian atolu, via English atoll.

Noun

atoll m (definite singular atollen, indefinite plural atollar, definite plural atollane)

  1. an atoll

References

Swedish

Noun

atoll c

  1. atoll

Declension
Declension of atoll 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative atoll atollen atoller atollerna
Genitive atolls atollens atollers atollernas

Anagrams
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.