subnival
Syllables: sub·niv·al/sʌbˈnaɪvl̩/US/ˌsʌbˈnaɪv(ə)l/
subnival adjective: of a habitat: of an altitude, latitude, or type just below that which would be permanently covered by snow (the snow line).
Adjective
subnival (not comparable)
- Of a habitat: of an altitude, latitude, or type just below that which would be permanently covered by snow (the snow line).
- In this way, the ‘subnival’ mountain range on the southern facet with its strong solifluction influence (level slope formation) approaches in height the ‘nival’ mountain range on the northern facet, which is distinguished by its well developed glacial forms.1969, Wendelin Klaer, “Glazialmorphologische Probleme in den Hochgebirgen Vorderasiens [Glacial Morphological Problems in the High Mountains of the Near East]”, in Erdkunde: Archive for Scientific...
- Growing or capable of growing, or occurring, underneath snow; subnivean.
Origin of subnival
PIE word *upó From sub- (prefix meaning ‘beneath, under’) + nival (“abounding with snow; snow-covered, snowy; found or thriving in snowy conditions”), borrowed from German subnival, from Late Latin subnivalis, from Latin sub- (prefix meaning ‘beneath, under’) + nivālis (“snow-covered; snowy”) (from nix (“snow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship)).
Words that rhyme with subnival
- revival
- arrival
- survival
- rival
- adjectival
- buccogingival
- corrival
- estival
- gingival
- infinitival
- nival
- ogival
38 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- substantival
- ablatival
- accusatival
- aestival
- arch-rival
- archrival
- conjunctival
- corival
- corneoconjunctival
- datival
- deprival
- derival
- diminutival
- distogingival
- genitival
- gerundival
- imperatival
- intraconjunctival
- keratoconjunctival
- myoconjunctival
- negatival
- non-arrival
- nonarrival
- nonconjunctival
- nonrival
- outrival
- passival
- perspectival
- pharyngoconjunctival
- possessival
- predicatival
- relatival
- scleroconjunctival
- subconjunctival
- subgingival
- thyroprival
- transconjunctival
- unarrival
Questions about subnival
- What does subnival mean?
- Subnival means of a habitat: of an altitude, latitude, or type just below that which would be permanently covered by snow (the snow line).
- What part of speech is subnival?
- Subnival is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce subnival?
- Subnival is pronounced /sʌbˈnaɪvl̩/ (UK).
Words near subnival in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: subnival (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-subnival.wav.
Cite this entry: “subnival.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/subnival. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.