Hogback
/ˈhɒɡˌbæk/noun
A long, narrow ridge with steep sides and a rounded top, or a type of medieval stone monument with a curved roof-like shape.
Did you know?The “hogback” shape was so vivid that it became the name for both natural ridges and a distinctive class of Anglo-Scandinavian tombstones carved like tiny roofed houses or beasts’ backs.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
hogge bæc
“literally “hog’s back,” a descriptive phrase for a rounded ridge”
Middle English
ME
hogge bak
“a ridge or rise in the land shaped like the back of a hog”
Late Old English / Early Medieval
OE
hogbeorc / hogbacke
“later regional and dialectal forms used for a ridge-like shape”
19th Century
English
hogback
“revived in antiquarian and geological use for a steep-sided, rounded ridge”
Modern English
English
hogback
“a narrow ridge with steep slopes and a rounded crest; also a medieval tombstone type”