glen

Meaning

A secluded and narrow valley, especially one with a river running through it; a depression between hills; a dale.

Synonyms

valley

dale

vale

dell

ravine

gorge

canyon

deep ravine

nullah

mountain-pass

heugh

barranca

narrow defile

basin

defile

dingle

gap

holler

narrow

barranco

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡlɛn/

Etymology

From Middle English glen, borrowed from Irish gleann and Scottish Gaelic gleann, Old and Middle Irish glend, glenn (“mountain valley”), from Proto-Celtic *glendos (“valley”), hypothetically from Proto-Indo-European *glend- (“shore”) but the word may have been borrowed from a non-Indo-European substrate language. Compare Manx glion, Welsh glyn. Doublet of glyn.