fumarole

IPA/ˈfjuːmərəʊl/
IPA/ˈfjuːmərəʊl/

fumarole — noun

  • fumarolesingular
  • fumarolesplural

1. a small hole in the ground near a volcano where heated gases, water vapour, or s

1.nounC2
Definition

a small hole in the ground near a volcano where heated gases, water vapour, or smoke rise up from deep underground.

Example

Camila photographed a yellow-rimmed fumarole hissing beside the trail on Mount Etna.

noun used with location: fumarole on/beside [volcano feature]

The geology students wore gas masks before approaching the largest fumarole in the crater.

collocation: largest / active fumarole

Common collocations
  • active fumarole
  • hissing fumarole
  • fumarole field
  • sulphurous fumarole
Synonyms
  • vent

    general word for any opening that releases gas or smoke; less technical than fumarole

  • steam vent

    describes the same feature in everyday language without geological precision

  • solfatara

    a fumarole that emits sulphurous gases specifically

Grammar Patterns

fumarole + on/in/near + place

Usage Note

Subject of scientific writing about volcanoes and geothermal areas; usually appears with verbs like 'hiss', 'vent', 'emit', or with descriptors of temperature and gas content.

Common Mistakes

The fumarole erupted lava down the mountain.
The volcano erupted lava down the mountain; the nearby fumarole only released steam.
fumaroles emit gases and vapour, not molten rock.

Word family

  • fumarolic
    adjectiveC2
  • fume
    nounB2
  • fume
    verbB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name openings in the earth that release something from below, but they differ in what comes out and how technical the word feels. 'Vent' is the broadest and most everyday term — it can describe any opening that lets out gas, steam, or smoke, not just on a volcano. 'Fumarole' is a geological term for a hole near a volcano that releases hot gases and water vapour, but no liquid water or molten rock. A 'geyser' is different again: it shoots boiling water and steam into the air at intervals, like Old Faithful in Yellowstone. A 'solfatara' is a special kind of fumarole whose gases are mostly sulphurous, leaving yellow crystals around the rim. So you might write: 'Hikers heard a fumarole hissing nearby, watched a geyser erupt in the distance, and smelled a solfatara further uphill.'

fumarole ↗vent ↗geyser ↗solfatara

Common collocations

Nouns

  • fumarole field
  • fumarole activity
  • volcanic fumarole

Phrases

  • active fumarole
  • hissing fumarole
  • hot fumarole

Prepositions

  • fumarole on
  • fumarole in
  • fumarole near

Etymology

LatinItalianEnglish

Borrowed into English in the early 1800s from Italian 'fumarola', which came from the late Latin 'fumariolum' meaning 'a small smoke hole'. The Latin root 'fumus' means 'smoke', the same root behind English words like 'fume' and 'perfume'. Italian volcanologists studying Vesuvius and other Mediterranean volcanoes shaped the modern technical sense.