nēˈāvāˌpenəˈtentā, ˈnyāv- noun
( plural nie·ves peniten·tes -vās...tās)
Etymology: Spanish, literally, penitent snow; from the illusion of kneeling human figures
: a jagged sometimes curved pinnacle of ice or névé produced by uneven melting of a snowbank or of the surface of a glacier ; also : an assemblage of such pinnacles — compare serac