Another word for monadnock is inselberg. "Monadnock" is the term generally used in the USA. Yet another synonym is bornhardt, which the author Bill Bryson uses to describe Uluru in Australia. See this Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monadnock

Another word for monadnock is inselberg.

What a waste of a good hogwash word!

Hi!jture! Thanks for links. We have a Kopje ( South African for monadnock )van Bloemendaal, somewhere between the Hague and Amsterdam, but I don't think it wil be granite all lost in the watery swamp.
Honestly , it can hardly be called
a hill, but it accentuates the great respect we have for the slightest elevation in the flat land.

From: Larry Caldwell (lcaldwell cityofroseburg.org)
Subject: Monadknock

I was fascinated by monadnock. In Gaelic, a knock (cnoc) is a hill, and a mona is a bog. Monadnock would translate as "bog hill". I have often wondered if there was more communication across the North Atlantic than we know.

The definition of monadnock is an isolated mountain. The definition of monad is an indivisible unit (in the philosophy of Leibnitz). I think the word is a combination of Greek monos and Gaelic.

Sounds a reasonable hypothesis.

So the name Kinnock must mean hill presumably then.

(I wonder what the Grecian Gaels were doing in New Hampshire?) Monadnock is from the name of a mountain in New Hampshire. It is believed to have a Native American etymology.

FWIW, Ancestry.com doesn't have an origin for Kinnock but says Kinnick is Anglicized from Coinneach (Kenneth) meaning handsome.

In Edith Pattou's book Fire Arrow, a silly character goes by the name of Monadnock. He leads the heroine through a mountain pass and is horrified at the thought of the heroine's journey to a bog. I didn't get the name before the word's posting--I thought the author had just made it up--but now I think it's pretty funny, considering that the book recalls some Irish legends.

Not that this is pertinent to the etymology, but it was fun to get "Monadnock" in AWAD the week of my birthday! Mt. Monadnock was the first mountain I ever attempted to climb. I had just turned three. I'm told it's an easy hike, but it seemed awfully steep at the time.

Later, in geology classes, this term always seemed like an old friend -- and I don't know anyone other than Wordsmiths who would appreciate words seeming like friends.

Monadnock building

This building in Chicago was completed in 1893. That's an awfully
beautiful remarkable modern building for the time. Still is amazing. I like it and Chicago.