Meanings
plural dunes
- geographyA ridge or hill of sand piled up by currents of wind or water.
Heavy line segments (lengthened for clarity) indicate locations of deep-sea dunes.
1975, Texas A & M University. College of Geosciences, Contributions in Oceanography1 more example
In the early 2000s, space probes [confirmed Mars as] having dunes […] Their shapes are identical to their Saharan cousins', but they are ten times bigger. In contrast, underwater dunes are a hundred times smaller than their counterparts on solid ground. This universality of dunes is a blessing for physicists: their comparative study confirmed the models that describe the formation of dunes on Earth.
2021 February 23, Etienne Guyon, Jose Bico, Etienne Reyssat, Benoit Roman, Hidden Wonders: The Subtle Dialogue Between Physics and Elegance, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 257
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA ridge or hill of sand piled up by currents of wind or water.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna ridge of sand created by the wind; found in deserts or near lakes and oceans
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰuHnom“enclosure”
- Proto-Celtic*dūnom“stronghold, rampart”
- Proto-West Germanic*dūn, *dūnā
- Middle Low Germandûne
- Middle Dutchdune
- Dutchduin
- Englishdune
Partly from a dialectal form of down; and partly from Dutch duin (from Middle Dutch dune) or from Middle Low German dûne; all ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *dūn, *dūnā, of uncertain origin; possibly from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold, rampart”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuHnom (“enclosure”), from *dʰewh₂- (“to finish, come full circle”). Doublet of down (which see).
More words from Dutch, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic كَثِيب, غُرْد
- كَثِيب (kaṯīb)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- غُرْد (ḡurd)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Basque duna
- dunaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Bulgarian дю́на
- дю́на (djúna)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Catalan duna
- dunaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Chinese Cantonese 沙丘
- 沙丘 (saa¹ jau¹)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Chinese Mandarin 沙丘
- 沙丘 (shāqiū)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Czech duna
- dunaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Danish klit
- klita ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Dutch duin
- duina ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Esperanto duno
- dunoa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Estonian luide, düün
- luidea ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- düüna ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- tuiskliivahanga ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Finnish dyyni
- dyynia ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
French dune
- dunea ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
German Düne, Sanddüne
- Dünea ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- Sanddünea ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Greek αμμόλοφος, θίνα
- αμμόλοφος (ammólofos)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- θίνα (thína)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Hindi टिब्बा, बालुकूट
- टिब्बा (ṭibbā)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- बालुकूट (bālukūṭ)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Hungarian dűne, bucka
- dűnea ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- buckaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Icelandic sandhóll
- sandhólla ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Indonesian gumuk
- gumuka ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Irish dumhach, méile
- dumhacha ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- méilea ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Italian duna
- dunaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Japanese 砂丘
- 砂丘 (sakyū)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Korean 둔, 둔덕
- 둔 (dun)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- 둔덕 (dundeok)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- 둔치 (dunchi)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- 모래톱 (moraetop)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- 사구 (sagu)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Latvian kāpa
- kāpaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Lithuanian kopa
- kopaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Malay gumuk
- gumuka ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Māori refers to dunes, taipū
- refers to dunesa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- taipūa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- tāhuahuaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Norwegian dyne
- dynea ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Persian تلماسه, ماهور
- تلماسه (talmâse)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- ماهور (mâhur)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Polish wydma, diuna
- wydmaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- diunaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Portuguese duna
- dunaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Romanian dună
- dunăa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Russian дю́на, барха́н
- дю́на (djúna)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- барха́н (barxán)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Slovak duna
- dunaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Spanish duna, médano
- dunaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- médanoa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- méganoa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Swahili tuta la mchanga
- tuta la mchangaa ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Swedish dyn
- dyna ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Thai เนินทราย
- เนินทราย (nəən-saai)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Turkish kumul
- kumula ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Ukrainian дю́на, барха́н
- дю́на (djúna)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- барха́н (barxán)a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Vietnamese đụn cát, cồn cát
- đụn cáta ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
- cồn cáta ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with dune
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
dune. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dune
“dune.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dune. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dune,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dune.
Source: dune on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.