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Joined:  Oct 2002 Posts: 7 stranger |  
| stranger Joined:  Oct 2002 Posts: 7 | 
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 |  |  |  
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Joined:  Dec 2006 Posts: 956 old hand |  
|   old hand Joined:  Dec 2006 Posts: 956 | 
Another word for monadnock is   inselberg. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 old hand |  
|   old hand Joined:  Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 | 
What a waste of a good hogwash word! |  |  |  
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Joined:  Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 | 
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.
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Joined:  Sep 2008 Posts: 3 stranger |  
|   stranger Joined:  Sep 2008 Posts: 3 | 
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.
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Joined:  Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 old hand |  
|   old hand Joined:  Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 | 
Sounds a reasonable hypothesis.
 So the name Kinnock must mean hill presumably then.
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Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 | 
(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. 
 Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined:  Oct 2005 Posts: 557 addict |  
|   addict Joined:  Oct 2005 Posts: 557 | 
So the name Kinnock must mean hill presumably then. FWIW, Ancestry.com doesn't have an origin for Kinnock but says Kinnick is Anglicized from Coinneach (Kenneth) meaning handsome. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Sep 2008 Posts: 1 stranger |  
|   stranger Joined:  Sep 2008 Posts: 1 | 
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. |  |  |  
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Joined:  Aug 2008 Posts: 2 stranger |  
|   stranger Joined:  Aug 2008 Posts: 2 | 
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.
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Joined:  Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Carpal Tunnel |  
|   Carpal Tunnel Joined:  Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 | 
 Monadnock buildingThis 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. 
Last edited by BranShea; 10/06/2008 8:49 PM.
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