from mole hill to mountain

Question

I had this conversation with a friend but I can't really remember the details and I would like several opinions. I remember using 'colina' to describe a little hill, as in something you could run up in 20-30 seconds (like a 'mound' I guess). I remember him saying that colina was used more to describe something akin to a small mountain. what are your classifications/ words you use for sizes of hills and mountains?

the words I'm most familiar with are colina, montaña, y cerro

I would love to get some more insight into these words and perhaps learn some new ones.

Answer 1

less 100 mts: Cerro/colina, loma, montículo, collado, otero, promontorio, cota, peña. Cerro (isolated elevation generally)

200-700 mts: Monte

+700 mts: montaña (Monte is used to name many important montañas/mountains)

Sierra - little mountain range

Cordillera - Great mountain range

Macizo - massif

Mountain top: Cima, cumbre, pico

wow great answer! Lots of words I had forgotten I didn't remember haha. great visual representation of the descriptions as well. Thank you! - despistado, Dec 7, 2014

Answer 2

How about "monte"? You have the right idea with colina being the smallest, at least where I live in the US. Cerro is probably the next largest with montaña being the largest. There will probably some differences of opinion with this.

"Monte" is usually reserved for use in a name like Monte Sinai, or Monte de Venus, etc. There are more uses for "monte" such as in the expression "echarse al monte" "take to the hills" or "to go to extremes"

I hope this helps.

No comments??? Huh! It would be nice to get a comment from the "absent-minded" one who posted the question! - Daniela2041, Dec 6, 2014

sorry I was away from my computer. thank - despistado, Dec 7, 2014