Pisgah

P3I1S1G2A1H4

noun

A glimpse of a distant sight; an overview of a situation; a position that affords a view.

UncommonScrabble 12

Meanings

nounPisgah (plural Pisgahs)

plural Pisgahs

  1. attributivefigurativelyoftenA glimpse of a distant sight; an overview of a situation; a position that affords a view.

    Although the development of this work, complex and compelling in its own right, lies beyond the scope of the present study, a “Pisgah view” of Billy Budd[…] discloses its presentation, among many other things, of a sharply drawn retrospective allegory of Melville’s rhetorical career.

    1992, Bryan Collier Short, Cast by Means of Figures: Herman Melville's Rhetorical Development, page 153
proper noun
  1. The name of a mountain in the Bible. Usually refers to biblical Mount Pisgah or Mount Nebo.

    On Pisgah, Moses surveyed the whole land of Canaan, and although he was advantaged by the height of the place and the clearness of his eyes,[…] yet much of miracle must needs be admitted in so plain and far discovery.

    1869 [1650], Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof, page 70
    1 more example

    —With swimming glance, Like him who erst from Pisgah's cliff descried The unenter'd land of promise,—he survey'd That emerald shore where slept in hallow'd graves His ancestors, where rose in beauteous strength The city of his joy,—

    1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, On reading the Life of Quincy, by his Son, page 135
  2. Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina, United States.
  3. Willoughby State Forest in Vermont, United States.
  4. Former name of Killington Peak, Vermont, United States.

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Hebrewפסגּה
  2. EnglishPisgah

From Biblical Hebrew פסגּה (Piṣgāh), a name for the peak of Mount Nebo, meaning literally “top of a mountain; summit”.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Pisgah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pisgah

MLA

“Pisgah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pisgah. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Pisgah,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pisgah.

Source: Pisgah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.