graupel

Meanings

Plural: graupels

Noun

A precipitation that forms when supercooled droplets of water condense on a snowflake.
A small ball of rime resulting from this process.

Origin / Etymology

Borrowed from German Graupel(wetter) (literally “graupel (weather)”). Graupel is a back-formation from graupeln (“to hail (with soft hailstones)”) + -el (diminutive suffix); and graupeln is from Graupe (“hulled grain, pearl barley”) (ultimately from Proto-Slavic *krūpà (“grainy substance; groats; hail”) and Proto-Indo-European *krewp-) + -eln (suffix forming verbs, often with a diminutive or frequentative sense).

Synonyms

granular snow, hominy snow, popcorn snow, snow pellet, soft hail

Scrabble Score: 10

graupel is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
graupel is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
graupel is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

graupel is a valid Words With Friends word