Denali

Denali

English

Denali (Mount McKinley)

Etymology

Borrowed from Koyukon Deenaalee (“the tall one; the high one; the great one”) (/dinæli/, variously rendered Dinale or Denali), from -naał- (“be long, tall”).[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɨˈnɑːli/

Proper noun

Denali

1. The highest mountain peak in North America (the third most prominent peak after Mount Everest and Aconcagua), located in central Alaska.
   • 1902, Dodd, Mead and Company, New International Encyclopedia:

     Mount McKinley was known to Russians as Bulshaia and to the natives of Cook Inlet as Traleyka. Both names signify 'high' or 'big mountain.' The natives of the interior know it as Denali.

Usage notes

• During Russian ownership of Alaska, the name of the mountain was Больша́я Гора́ (Bolʹšája Gorá, “big mountain”), the literal translation of Denali.[2] It was briefly called Densmore's Mountain in the late 1880s and early 1890s after Frank Densmore, first European to reach its base.[3] In 1896, W. A Dickey, a gold prospector named it McKinley after then-presidential candidate William McKinley, writing "that fact [McKinley's nomination] was the first news we received on our way out of that wonderful wilderness"; the United States formalized the name Mount McKinley in 1917, but many Alaskans continued to refer to it as Denali,[4] the Alaskan board on geographic names made Denali official for state use in 1975,[5] and President Obama restored that name in August 2015.[6]

Synonyms

• Mount McKinley

Derived terms

• Denali Borough

Descendants

• Latin: denaliensis
• Translingual: Cosberella denali, Erigeron denalii, Papaver denalii (syn. Papaver mcconnellii), Proclossiana aphirape denali, Symplecta denali, Tipula denali

Translations

highest mountain peak in North America

Ahtna: Dghelaay Ke'e Chinese: Mandarin: 德納里峰／德纳里峰 (Dénàlǐ Fēng) Danish: Denali Deg Xinag: Dengadh Dena'ina: Dghelay Ka'a (Upper Inlet), Dghili Ka'a (Lower Inlet) French: Denali (fr), Mont McKinley German: Denali Gwich'in: please add this translation if you can Holikachuk: Denadhe Hän: please add this translation if you can Koyukon: Deenaalee Lower Tanana: Deenadhee, Deenadheet Russian: Дена́ли f (Denáli), Больша́я Гора́ f (Bolʹšája Gorá) (obsolete), Мак-Ки́нли f (Mak-Kínli) Spanish: Denali Tanacross: please add this translation if you can Upper Kuskokwim: Denaze Yup'ik: please add this translation if you can

References

1. William Bright, Native American Placenames of the United States, citing Jetté and Jones (2000:432)
2. Dictionary of Alaska Place Names (1976, →ISBN; United States Department of the Interior) page 610
3. Frank Norris, Crown Jewel of the North: An Administrative History of Denali National Park and Preserve (National Park Service), volume 1, page 1
4. Kyle Hopkins, What's in a name? To Alaskans, plenty if it's Mt. McKinley
5. Jon Campbell, Old Name Officially Returns to Nation’s Highest Peak (30 August 2015): "The Alaska State Board on Geographic Names, acting under state authority, made the name Denali official for state use in 1975."
6. Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Mount McKinley Will Again Be Called Denali

Anagrams

• Aldine, Daniel, Delian, Delina, Leanid, alined, daniel, deal in, dealin', denail, denial, dienal, enlaid, inlead, lained, lead in, lead-in, leadin', nailed