Chine, Circus, Cirque, Clough: Origins, Forms, Histories of Words Meaning Valley, Cave

The natural features of a region are called its topography. The word comes from Greek topos ("place").

English speakers have a long history of inventing (or borrowing from other languages) all sorts of different names for related topographical features.

Valleys and caves, for example, as well as human-made features having similar topographical effects, are known by a wide range of words in English, each with its own unique story to tell.

In the alphabetically arranged presentation of such terms in the current series, the next words are these: chine, circus, cirque, and clough. Here is an overview of their origins, forms, and histories. The dates of first appearance of the forms and meanings are from the Oxford English Dictionary.

Chine
Modern English chine comes from Middle English chine ("crack, fissure, chasm," 13th century), from Old English cine, cinu (before 12th century). The word is akin to Old English cinan ("to gape, yawn, crack") and Old High German chinan ("to split open").

The earliest, now obsolete meanings of chine are a crack in any surface and, by extension, a fissure in the surface of the earth (both senses, before 12th century).

In British dialectal English, a deep, narrow ravine or gorge is a chine (1830).

Circus
Circus entered English in the 14th century from Latin circus ("circle, circus"), from or akin to Greek kirkos ("ring"). In ancient Rome, the word circus denoted an oval or oblong (broadly, "circular") entertainment arena surrounded with rising tiers of seats.

In English the word refers to a similar arena or to a group of variety entertainers who typically perform in such an arena.

Topographically circus denotes a natural amphitheater, that is, a rounded hollow or plain encircled by heights. In modern use, the word generally refers to a deep, steep-walled basin on a mountain, usually at the end of a valley (1836). (See also cirque below.)

Cirque
Cirque entered English in the early 17th century from French cirque, from Latin circus ("circle, circus"), from or akin to Greek kirkos ("ring").

The original, now archaic meaning of cirque is a circus (1601). The word also applies to a circular space for games (1644), hence to any circle (1677).

Topographically cirque is synonymous with circus: a natural amphitheater (1874). (See also circus above.)

Clough
Modern English clough comes from Middle English clough (14th century) and clog (13th century), from (assumed) Old English cloh. The word is akin to Old High German Clahuelde (a place-name) and klinga ("ravine").

A narrow ravine or valley, usually having steep sides and forming the bed of a stream, is a clough (13th century).
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Encyclopaedia Britannica Ready Reference 2004. CD-ROM. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2006.

Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2007.

The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1989.