ross
n. countablen. a high piece of land that sticks out into the sea. It is a word used mostly in Scotland and parts of Ireland for a cliff or a small hill.
n. a promontory, headland, or steep hill. Primarily a dialectal term found in Scottish and Irish toponymy.
The old lighthouse stands on the rocky ross overlooking the bay.
The hikers followed the coastal path until they reached the ross, where the wind was much stronger.
From the summit of the ross, the jagged coastline stretches out in both directions, revealing the sheer scale of the Atlantic's erosive power over the centuries.
* As a Scottish surname, from several places such as Roose in Cumbria or Roos in Yorkshire, both from Scottish Gaelic ros (“promontory”) or a Brythonic parallel of its source such as Welsh rhos (“moor, heath”). There were also several Norman families in Scotland who took their name from Rots in Calvados. Compare Rose, Rhodes. * As an English surname, from Wrose in Shipley, with loss of initial w. As an English and German surname, from derivatives of the old Germanic root common in names hrōþi (“fame”). Compare Rossell. * As a Cornish surname, from several places in Cornwall deriving from ros (“heathland”), related to the above Celtic word meaning "heath" or "promontory." See Rouse. * As a Jewish and German occupational surname for a breeder of horses, from the regional/poetic noun Ross (“horse”). Doublet of horse. * Also as a Jewish surname, Americanized from Rose.
Commonly appears as a prefix or suffix in place names across Scotland and Ireland.