nival

From Latin nivalis, from nix, nivis (“snow”).

• Rhymes: -aɪvəl

nival (comparative more nival, superlative most nival)

1. Abounding with snow; snowy; snow-covered (now especially in reference to plant habitats).
   • 2003, Laszlo Nagy, Georg Grabherr, Christian Körner, Desmond B.A. Thompson, Alpine Biodiversity in Europe, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 406:

     The observed climate warming during the twentieth century has affected alpine vegetation by increasing vascular plant species richness on nival mountain tops […]

   • 2002, Mountain Research and Development:

     It includes the nival mountain top, the moorlands above the timberline, a belt of tropical rainforest, the semihumid footzone of the tertiary volcano, the semiarid high Laikipia Plateau, the escarpment, and the semiarid to arid Samburu Plains.

   • 1971, Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts, volume 22, issues 1-6, page 447:

     In this way, the subnival mountain range on the southern facet with its strong solifluction influence (level slope formation) approaches in height the nival mountain range on the northern facet, which is distinguished by its well developed glacial forms.

2. (botany) Found or thriving in snowy conditions.
   • 1914, The Journal of Ecology, page 60:

     In 1884 O. Heer published a comprehensive account of the nival flora of Switzerland, in which he listed 338 species of flowering plants found above 2600 m.; of these, 6 were found above 3900 m.

   • 2013, Rosa Margesin, Franz Schinner, Cold-Adapted Organisms: Ecology, Physiology, Enzymology and Molecular Biology, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 165:

     As can be seen from the present chapter, main problems of adaptation, ecophysiology, ecology and evolutionary biology of the nival fauna were hardly investigated at all.” The early history of explorations of the nival zone in the Alps has been summarized […]

• “nival”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• Alvin, Lavin, Vilna, anvil, vinal

From Latin nivālis, from nix.

• IPA^(key): /ni.val/

• Audio:

  (file)

nival (feminine nivale, masculine plural nivaux, feminine plural nivales)

1. (relational) snow

• névé
• neige
• nivéal (adjective)
• nivologie

• “nival”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): /niˈvaːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

nival (strong nominative masculine singular nivaler, not comparable)

1. nival

• subnival

nival m or f (masculine and feminine plural nivales)

1. snow; snow

• “nival”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28