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transhumance

 - 3 dictionary results

trans⋅hu⋅mance

[trans-hyoo-muhns or, often, yoo-, tranz-]
–noun
the seasonal migration of livestock, and the people who tend them, between lowlands and adjacent mountains.

Origin:
1900–05; < F, equiv. to transhum(er) to shift ground (modeled on Sp trashumar; see trans-, humus ) + -ance -ance


trans⋅hu⋅mant, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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trans·hu·mance   (trāns-hyōō'məns, trānz-)   
n.  Transfer of livestock from one grazing ground to another, as from lowlands to highlands, with the changing of seasons.

[French, from transhumer, to move livestock seasonally, from Spanish trashumar : Latin trāns-, trans- + Latin humus, ground; see dhghem- in Indo-European roots.]
trans·hu'mant adj. & n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

transhumance

form of pastoralism or nomadism organized around the migration of livestock between mountain pastures in warm seasons and lower altitudes the rest of the year. The seasonal migration may also occur between lower and upper latitudes (as in the movement of Siberian reindeer between the subarctic taiga and the Arctic tundra). Most peoples who practice transhumance also engage in some form of crop cultivation, and there is usually some kind of permanent settlement

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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