Pingo
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A conical mound of earth with an ice core caused by permafrost uplift, particularly if lasting more than a year.
"The greatest variation in cover thickness, as determined from collapsed pingos, is in irregularly shaped pingos, or those with asymmetrically located ice-cores."
- 2 A flexible pole supported on one shoulder, with a load suspended from each end. Sri-Lanka, dated
"This done, he [an elephant] took up the pingo and moved away from the spot; but at the distance of about a fathom or two, laid it down again, and ripping open one of the bundles, took out of it all the contents, somans [footnote: Woman's robe], cambāyas [footnote: The figured cloth worn by men], handkerchiefs, and several pieces of white cambrick cloth, all which he tore to small pieces, and flung them wildly here and there. He did the same with all the other pingoes."
- 3 A measure of weight equivalent to that which can be carried using a pingo, perhaps about 55 pounds (25 kilograms) (see the 2013 quotation). Sri-Lanka, dated
"Upon reaching this quantity, the tribute decreased one pingo annually until the number was reduced to five."
Example
More examples"The greatest variation in cover thickness, as determined from collapsed pingos, is in irregularly shaped pingos, or those with asymmetrically located ice-cores."
Etymology
From Greenlandic pingu or Inuktitut pingu (“hummock, small hill”).
Apparently from Sinhalese [Term?] (?), but the word has not yet been identified.
Related phrases
More for "pingo"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.