avalanche

Meanings

Noun

• A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice.
• A fall of earth, rocks, etc., similar to that of an avalanche of snow or ice.
• A sudden, great, or irresistible descent or influx; anything like an avalanche in suddenness and overwhelming quantity.

Verb

• To descend like an avalanche.
• To come down upon; to overwhelm.
• To propel downward like an avalanche.

Origin

• From French avalanche, from Franco-Provençal (Savoy) avalançhe, blend of aval and standard lavençhe, from Vulgar Latin *labanka (compare Occitan lavanca, Italian valanga), of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of Late Latin lābīna ("landslide") (compare Franco-Provençal (Dauphiné) lavino, Romansch lavina), from Latin lābēs, from lābor.