moutonnée

[ moot-n-ey ]

adjective

, Geology.

1. noting or pertaining to a rock formation having a rounded outline like the back of a sheep, resulting from glacial action.

Word History and Origins

Origin of moutonnée¹

First recorded in 1840–45; from French (roche) moutonnée “fleecy (rock),” past participle of moutonner “to have fleecy clouds”; mouton ( def ), mutton ¹( def )

Example Sentences

They were not moutonnée, their smooth look from a distance was only owing to their singular firmness.

From Project Gutenberg

Some of the larger boulders had glacial furrows and scratches upon them, and all the hills bordering the shore were rounded and moutonnee.

From Project Gutenberg

In addition to these polished, striated, and grooved surfaces of rock, another mark of the former action of a glacier is the "roche moutonnee."

From Project Gutenberg