A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
975 entries
looming
The apparent lifting of distant objects above the horizon by atmospheric refraction, making things visible that should be below the line of sight. Coastlines, ships, and islands that are geometrically beyond the horizon can appear to float above it. The opposite — objects appearing to sink or shrink — is called stooping. The Vikings may have discovered Iceland because it loomed.
Etymology
From verb “loom,” of uncertain origin — possibly related to Middle Low German “lomen” (to move slowly) or a Scandinavian source connected to appearing indistinctly. First used for the atmospheric optical effect in the 18th century.