1735–45, Americanism; after (Grand) Monadnock (earlier name of Mount Monadnock) < a S New England Algonquian name, literally, isolated mountain
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
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monadnock  (mə-nād'nŏk') Pronunciation Key
A mountain or rocky mass that has resisted erosion and stands isolated in an essentially level area. |
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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monadnock
isolated hill of bedrock standing conspicuously above the general level of the surrounding area. Monadnocks are left as erosional remnants because of their more resistant rock composition; commonly they consist of quartzite or less jointed massive volcanic rocks. In contrast to inselbergs (island mountains), a similar tropical landform, monadnocks are formed in humid, temperate regions. They take their name from Mt. Monadnock, a solitary mass of rock (3,165 feet [965 metres]) in Monadnock State Park, southeast of Keene, in Cheshire County, southwestern New Hampshire, U.S. A well-known example is Stone Mountain in Georgia, U.S
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