hummock

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small rounded hill, mound, or raised patch of ground

   We crossed the marsh by stepping from one grassy hummock to the next.

2. 2
   noun

   a ridge or irregular mound of broken ice in an ice field

   The sled moved slowly among pressure ridges and frozen hummocks.

Of uncertain origin, first recorded in English in the sixteenth century. It is commonly analyzed as a diminutive related to hump, with the suffix -ock as in hillock, though that derivation is not certain. The ice sense applies the shape of a small land mound to a ridge of broken sea or lake ice.

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