St. Elias Mountains
- proper noun
- The St. Elias Mountains contain some of the tallest peaks in North America, including Mount Logan.
Examples
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The border between Alaska and Canada runs through the St. Elias Mountains.
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Scientists conducted climate research in the remote St. Elias Mountains.
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The St. Elias Mountains are breathtaking.
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Have you ever visited the St. Elias Mountains?
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Scientists conducted climate research in the remote St. Elias Mountains.
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The St. Elias Mountains contain some of the tallest peaks in North America, including Mount Logan.
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The border between Alaska and Canada runs through the St. Elias Mountains.
Synonyms
A range of high mountains between southern Alaska and the Yukon that has some of North America's highest peaks
A range of high mountains on the border between Alaska and Yukon, including Mount St Elias
Surface Forms
Morphology
St. + Elias + mountain
This is a transparent toponym: ‘St.’ (Saint) + the proper name ‘Elias’ + ‘mountains’ clearly denotes a mountain range named after Saint Elias. A B1 learner who knows ‘mountain’ and recognizes ‘St.’ as a title will readily infer it refers to mountains associated with the name, and place-name formation of this type is cross-linguistically common.
Etymology
St. Elias Mountains may come from early explorers who named a tall peak St. Elias after the saint 'Elijah' because they saw it on his special day. The whole mountain group later took that name, so today St. Elias Mountains refers to the high peaks between Alaska and the Yukon.