gramadulla

English

Gramadullas

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

gramadulla (plural gramadullas)

1. (geomorphology, Namibia) Arid terrain characterized by numerous alternating canyons and gorges.
   • 1958, Henno Martin, translated by Edward Fitzgerald, The Sheltering Desert, New York: Thomas Nelson, pages 65-66:

     the word “gramadulla” […] seemed to express just the bleak desolation of those grey-capped masses of rock and the wild labyrinth of those innumerable gorges and ravines.

   • 1971, Jillian Becker, The Union, London: Chatto & Windus, Chapter 4, p. 248,^[1]

     Perhaps it was Lisa, who had become a huntress, who chased him on; across the plains and down the gramadulla gorges, and through the shade of granite dykes.

   • 2002, Andrew Goudie, chapter 6, in Great Warm Deserts of the World: Landscapes and Evolution‎^[2], Oxford University Press, page 155:

     ephemeral rivers like the Swakop are deeply incised into the plains, producing gorges and areas of badlands (locally called gramadullas)

See also

• badlands