Ben Nevis

English

Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic beinn (“peak”) + "Nevis" having an unknown etymology.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˌbɛn ˈnɛvɪs/

Proper noun

Ben Nevis

1. The highest mountain in the United Kingdom, in Highland council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NN1671).
   • 1860 July 21, George Gilfillan, quotee, “Alpha and Omega”, in The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art‎^[1], volume 10, number 247, →OCLC, page 87, column 2:

     But narrative, after all, is Mr. Gilfillan’s forte, and his picture of the flood is a masterpiece. First, we have the march of the animals — lions and tigers, “the solemn elephants,” the hyena, “horrible even in its transient tameness,” “the fox and lamb embracing each other” — “thick streams of reptile existence, from the serpent to the scorpion, from the boa-constrictor to the lizard, wriggling on their ark-ward way” — “overhead flights of birds, here all oracular of doom—the earnest eagle, the gloom-glowing raven, the reluctant vulture,” sweeping to their destined home. Then, we have mountains submerged and volcanoes extinguished, “Ben Nevis sunk fathoms and fathoms more beneath the waves” — “the eye of Mount Blanc darkened, Old Taurus blotted out,” the tide “rolling over the summit of Mount Everest, and violating its last particle of virgin snow” — and lastly, “some human scenes of extraordinary interest,” which Mr. Gilfillan descries amidst the surrounding confusion.

Translations

the mountain

• Macedonian: Бен Невис m (Ben Nevis)
• Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Nibheis