Word.ws English Dictionary

estavelle

estavelle noun: a hole that may function as an ephemeral spring or a sinkhole, depending on hydrological conditions.

Noun

estavelle (plural estavelles)

  1. A hole that may function as an ephemeral spring or a sinkhole, depending on hydrological conditions.
    • The water pressure within the earth can force a swallow hole to become a spring and vice versa. These reversible sinks, which geologists call by the French geologic term estavelle, change their direction of flow (swallow or discharge) based on fluctuations in the water table.2002, Sandra Friend, Sinkholes, page 35
    • Depending upon the position of the groundwater level and hydrological conditions on the surface, an estavelle can function at one time as an intermittent spring and at another as a ponor (swallowhole).2004, Petar Milanovic, Water Resources Engineering in Karst, page 23

Forms of estavelle

pluralestavelles

Origin of estavelle

From French estavelle, which is in turn from l'Estavelle, a spring in Hérault. The place name may come from Occitan estable (“stable”) or estervel (“whirlpool”), though this is uncertain.

Questions about estavelle

What does estavelle mean?
Estavelle means a hole that may function as an ephemeral spring or a sinkhole, depending on hydrological conditions.
What part of speech is estavelle?
Estavelle is a noun.
What is the plural of estavelle?
The plural of estavelle is estavelles.

Words near estavelle in the dictionary

  1. estatification
  2. estatified
  3. estatify
  4. estating
  5. estaurine
  6. estavelle
  7. estazolam
  8. estbd.
  9. Estcourt
  10. Estcourt Station
  11. estd

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: estavelle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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