noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈʊəstɹəʊmˌtɑːl/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈʊɹstɹoʊmˌtɑl/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈʊəstɹəʊmˌtɛlə/
General-American:/ˈʊɹstɹoʊmˌtɛləɹ/
1
noun
Meaning 1
A broad glacial valley formed during an ice age by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from German Urstromtal, from ur- (prefix meaning ‘original; primitive’) + Strom (“large river; stream”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow; stream”)) + Tal (“valley”) (ultimate etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dhól(h2)os). The plural form urstromtäler is also an unadapted borrowing from German Urstromtäler.
Across languages
Translations
12 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Dutch:
oerstroomdal
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
Estonian:
ürgorg
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
Finnish:
mannerjäätikön edustalaakso
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
French:
vallée proglaciaire
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
West-Frisian:
oerstreamdelling
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
German:
Urstromtal
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
Hungarian:
ősfolyamvölgy
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
Kashubian:
pradolëzna
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
Latin:
vallis proglacialis
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
Norwegian Bokmål:
urstrømdal
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
Polish:
pradolina
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
Slovene:
pradolina
— glacial valley formed by meltwater flowing roughly parallel to the ice margin
