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Webster 1913 Edition

(kôr-dĭl′lẽr-ȧ; Sp. kôrˊdē̍-lyā̍′rȧ)

Noun.

[Sp., fr. OSp.

cordilla

cordiella

, dim. of

cuerda

a rope, string. See

(Geol.)

A mountain ridge or chain.

☞ Cordillera is sometimes applied, in geology, to the system of mountain chains near the border of a continent; thus, the western

cordillera

of North America in the United States includes the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Coast and Cascade ranges.