- Main Entry:
- tun·dra

- Pronunciation:
-
\ˈtən-drə also ˈtu̇n-\
- Function:
- noun
- Etymology:
- Russian, from Russian dialect (northeast) tundra, tundara, from Kildin Sami (Sami language of the northern Kola Peninsula) tūnter
- Date:
- circa 1841
: a level or rolling treeless plain that is characteristic of arctic and subarctic regions, consists of black mucky soil with a permanently frozen subsoil, and has a dominant vegetation of mosses, lichens, herbs, and dwarf shrubs; also : a similar region confined to mountainous areas above timberline