Hindcast, Hinterland, Hook, Horizon, Hurricane: Word Origins, Descriptions of Coastal Features, Processes

In the current alphabetic series of word origins and physical descriptions of coastal features and processes, here are hindcast, hinterland, holm, hook, horizon, and hurricane.

Hindcast
The noun hindcast, patterned after forecast, is a combination of the adjective hind ("back") and the noun cast ("plan").

In marine terminology, hindcast denotes a statistical calculation aimed at determining the probable past conditions of wave characteristics at a given time and place.

Hinterland
Hinterland, borrowed from German, is a combination of hinter ("hinder, situated behind") and Land ("land").

The word hinterland has a wide range of meanings, commonly, for example, referring to a region remote from cities, towns, or cultural centers.

In coastal terminology, hinterland denotes a region lying inland from a coast. Historically, the term had an important use in colonial areas, where it specifically stood for the territory extending inland from a coastal colony over which the colonial power claimed sovereignty.

Holm
Holm is a British word for a small island in a freshwater body or in the sea near a mainland.

The word comes from Middle English and Old English holm, from Old Norse holmr ("small island"). It is akin to Old English hyll ("hill") and Old English holm meaning "sea."

Hook
The general meaning of hook is any of various objects bent into a curve. On a coast, a small point of land, or a narrow cape of sand or gravel, curving landward at the outer end is called a hook.

Horizon
Modern English horizon comes from Middle English orizon (with no h), from Late Latin horizont-, a combining form of horizon, from Greek horizont-, horizon, from the present participle of horizein ("to bound, define"), from horos ("boundary").

On a coast, the word horizon has at least three meanings: the line forming the apparent junction of earth and sky; the geological deposit of a particular time period, especially as identified by distinctive fossils; and any of the distinct layers of soil forming part of the vertical sequence in a section of land.

Hurricane
The English word hurricane comes from Spanish huracán, from hurakan in Taino (the extinct language of the Taino people, of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas).

A hurricane is a tropical cyclone with winds of 74 miles per hour or greater. Hurricanes occur especially in the western Atlantic Ocean; are usually accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightning; and typically cause widespread damage.
____________________________

Barnes-Svarney, Patricia, ed. dir. The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference. New York: Stonesong Press-Macmillan, 1995.

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.