Meanings
- A volcano in Heimaey, Iceland, in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago; a volcanic cone formed during the 1973 eruption.
The Eldfell eruption commenced on 23 January 1973 as a 1.5 km fissure crossing the island of Heimaey.
2000 March 29, Alan V. Morgan, “The Eldfell Eruption, Heimaey, Iceland: A 25-Year Retrospective”, in Geoscience Canada, volume 27, number 1, →DOI, archived from the original on 27 Sep 2026, page 112 more examples
Within 2 days a cinder-spatter cone rose more than 110 yards above sea level and was later named Eldfell or “fire mountain”.
1983, Richard S. Williams Jr., James G. Moore, Man Against Volcano: The Eruption on Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, 2nd edition, U.S. Geological Survey, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2017, page 4Sixteen years after it roared to life, the 725-foot Eldfell volcano looks down almost benignly these days on the town it came close to destroying.
1989 August 20, Edith M. Lederer, “1973 Eruption Nearly Destroyed Town: Icelandic Isle, Grown Larger by 20%, Builds on Its Volcanic Past”, in Los Angeles Times
Origin
- IcelandicEldfell
- EnglishEldfell
Borrowed from Icelandic Eldfell, literally “fire mountain”.
More words from Icelandic
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Eldfell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Eldfell
“Eldfell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Eldfell. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Eldfell,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Eldfell.
Source: Eldfell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.