CORDILLERA

Cor‐dil″ler‐a (kôr‐dĭl″lẽr‐ȧ; Sp. kôr′dē̍‐lyā̍″rȧ), n. [[Sp., fr. OSp. cordilla, cordiella, dim. of cuerda a rope, string. See Cord.]] (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.