A large, slow-moving mass of ice that forms on land and moves downhill under its own weight.
From French *glacier* meaning “ice mass, ice,” from *glace* “ice,” from Latin *glacies* “ice.” The scientific use grew in the 18th and 19th centuries as people studied mountain and polar ice more closely. The word emphasizes ice as something that can flow like a river.
Glaciers flow so slowly that they feel frozen in time, yet they carve valleys, move boulders, and reshape landscapes. Today their retreat is one of the clearest, most visible signs of climate change — whole rivers and ecosystems depend on their summer melt.
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