sastruga

noun

sas·tru·ga | \ ˈsa-strə-gə

How to pronounce sastruga (audio)

, ˈsä-; ˌsa-ˈstrü-gə, ˌsä-\

plural sastrugi\ ˈsa-strə-(ˌ)gē

How to pronounce sastrugi (audio)

, ˈsä- ; ˌsa-ˈstrü-(ˌ)gē , ˌsä- \

Definition of sastruga

: a wavelike ridge of hard snow formed by the wind —usually used in plural

Did You Know?

If sastruga and its plural sastrugi seem like unusual English words, that may be because in some ways they are. Many of the words we use in English can be traced to one of two sources: about one-quarter of our vocabulary can be traced back to English's Germanic origins, and another two-thirds comes from Latinate sources (most such words come by way of French or from Latin directly, but Spanish and Italian have made their contributions as well). Sastruga was borrowed from German, but is not Germanic in origin. It’s originally from zastruga, a word that comes from a dialect of Russian and means "groove," "small ridge," or "furrow." Sastruga is not widely used in English, and when it is used, it often takes the plural form, as in our example sentence.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about sastruga

Listen to Our Podcast about sastruga

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Dictionary Entries near sastruga

Statistics for sastruga

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for sastruga

The first known use of sastruga was in 1840

See more words from the same year

WORD OF THE DAY

gritty

showing courage and determination

Test Your Vocabulary

Words for Summer: A Quiz

Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ