Himalayan

How to spell himalayan

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce himalayan

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does himalayan mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the Himalayas, the mountain range of southern Asia, or to things originating there.

Himalayan in a sentence

• The kitchen shelf held a block of pink himalayan salt.

• She spent three weeks trekking along a remote himalayan trail.

Where does himalayan come from?

Language of origin: Sanskrit

This word comes ultimately from Sanskrit, where Himalaya literally means 'abode of snow', joining hima, meaning 'snow' or 'frost', with alaya, meaning 'dwelling' or 'abode'. The name was first applied to the great mountain range that walls off the northern edge of the Indian subcontinent, the highest mountains on Earth. English adopted the place name during the period of British involvement in India, and the adjective himalayan was formed in the usual English way by adding the suffix -an, meaning 'relating to'. The hima element is a close relative of the Latin word hiems, meaning 'winter', and of the Greek cheima, also 'winter', so the same ancient root for cold weather echoes across several languages. The main spelling trap is the unstressed vowels in the middle: writers reach for an extra letter or drop the second a, when the run is simply hi-ma-lay-an.

How the word is built

• hima (snow)
• alaya (abode, dwelling)
• -an (adjectival suffix meaning 'relating to')