Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cordillera \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.

   Note: 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.