dune
/djuːn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.28 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Heavy line segments (lengthened for clarity) indicate locations of deep-sea dunes."
- "In the early 2000s, space probes [confirmed Mars as] having dunes […] Their shapes are identical to their Saharan cousins', but they are ten times bigger. In contrast, underwater dunes are a hundred times smaller than their counterparts on solid ground. This universality of dunes is a blessing for physicists: their comparative study confirmed the models that describe the formation of dunes on Earth."
Etymology
Partly from a dialectal form of down; and partly from Dutch duin (from Middle Dutch dune) or from Middle Low German dûne; all ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *dūn, *dūnā, of uncertain origin; possibly from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold, rampart”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuHnom (“enclosure”), from *dʰewh₂- (“to finish, come full circle”). Doublet of down (which see).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰewh₂-, duin, dune, dûne, *dūnā, *dūnom
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
sand dune
sand-dune
Homonyms
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