cwm
KOOM
The Welsh word for a cirque — a bowl-shaped, glacially carved mountain basin with steep headwalls. Cwm is used internationally in mountaineering: the Western Cwm of Everest, the valley between the Lhotse face and the West Ridge, is the most famous application. The word is one of the few in English with no standard vowel.
Etymology
Welsh cwm, a valley, a hollow. Related to English coombe (a short valley) and French combe. The word is ancient — the shape it describes is carved by ice but named by people who lived among the results.
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