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Stage 1 of 3
lavanche
Franco-Provencal · medieval
"a sliding mass of snow"
a mass of snow and ice sliding rapidly down a mountainside
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Stage 2 of 3
avalanche
French · 1700s
"a sudden mass of falling snow or ice"
reshaped in French for the sudden mountain snowslide
3
Stage 3 of 3
avalanche
English · 1760s
"a sudden mass of falling snow, ice, or rock"
adopted directly for the sudden, destructive snowslide
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