Tepui
/teˈpu.i/noun
A table-shaped mountain, especially in the Guiana Highlands of South America.
Did you know?Tepui is not a spooky European word at all, but an Indigenous Pemon term tied to sacred high places, which is why these isolated plateaus became legendary as hidden worlds.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian
Pemon
tepui
“A mountain or high, table-like hill”
19th Century
Spanish
tepuy
“A local Indigenous term adopted into Spanish for the flat-topped mountains of the Guiana region”
20th Century
English
tepui
“A table-shaped mountain, especially in Venezuela, Guyana, and neighboring regions”
Modern English
English
tepui
“A steep-sided, flat-topped mountain in northern South America”