Cor*dil"ler*a (k?r-d?l"l?r-?; Sp. k?r`d?-ly?"r?), 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.
© Webster 1913.