nival

English

Etymology

From Latin nivalis, from nix, nivis (“snow”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪvəl

Adjective

nival (comparative more nival, superlative most nival)

1. Abounding with snow; snowy; snow-covered (now especially in reference to plant habitats).
   • 2003, Laszlo Nagy, Georg Grabherr, Christian Körner, Desmond B.A. Thompson, Alpine Biodiversity in Europe, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 406:

     The observed climate warming during the twentieth century has affected alpine vegetation by increasing vascular plant species richness on nival mountain tops […]

   • 2002, Mountain Research and Development:

     It includes the nival mountain top, the moorlands above the timberline, a belt of tropical rainforest, the semihumid footzone of the tertiary volcano, the semiarid high Laikipia Plateau, the escarpment, and the semiarid to arid Samburu Plains.

   • 1971, Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts, volume 22, issues 1-6, page 447:

     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.

2. (botany) Found or thriving in snowy conditions.
   • 1914, The Journal of Ecology, page 60:

     In 1884 O. Heer published a comprehensive account of the nival flora of Switzerland, in which he listed 338 species of flowering plants found above 2600 m.; of these, 6 were found above 3900 m.

   • 2013, Rosa Margesin, Franz Schinner, Cold-Adapted Organisms: Ecology, Physiology, Enzymology and Molecular Biology, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 165:

     As can be seen from the present chapter, main problems of adaptation, ecophysiology, ecology and evolutionary biology of the nival fauna were hardly investigated at all.” The early history of explorations of the nival zone in the Alps has been summarized […]

References

• “nival”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Alvin, Lavin, Vilna, anvil, vinal

French

Etymology

From Latin nivālis, from nix.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni.val/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Hérault)):

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• Audio (France (Saint-Étienne)):

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Adjective

nival (feminine nivale, masculine plural nivaux, feminine plural nivales)

1. (relational) snow

Related terms

• névé
• neige
• nivéal (adjective)
• nivologie

Further reading

• “nival”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /niˈvaːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

nival (strong nominative masculine singular nivaler, not comparable)

1. nival

Declension

Positive forms of nival (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist nival	sie ist nival	es ist nival	sie sind nival
strong declension (without article)	nominative	nivaler	nivale	nivales	nivale
	genitive	nivalen	nivaler	nivalen	nivaler
	dative	nivalem	nivaler	nivalem	nivalen
	accusative	nivalen	nivale	nivales	nivale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der nivale	die nivale	das nivale	die nivalen
	genitive	des nivalen	der nivalen	des nivalen	der nivalen
	dative	dem nivalen	der nivalen	dem nivalen	den nivalen
	accusative	den nivalen	die nivale	das nivale	die nivalen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein nivaler	eine nivale	ein nivales	(keine) nivalen
	genitive	eines nivalen	einer nivalen	eines nivalen	(keiner) nivalen
	dative	einem nivalen	einer nivalen	einem nivalen	(keinen) nivalen
	accusative	einen nivalen	eine nivale	ein nivales	(keine) nivalen

Derived terms

• subnival

Spanish

Adjective

nival m or f (masculine and feminine plural nivales)

1. snowy; (attributive) snow

Derived terms

• búho nival
• escribano nival
• genciana nival

Further reading

• “nival”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025