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mountain

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also:Mountain

English

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EnglishWikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A snow-coveredmountain (sense 1).

Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishmountayne,mountain,montaigne, fromAnglo-Normanmuntaine,muntaigne, fromEarly Medieval Latinmontānia, a collective based onLatinmontem(“mountain”), fromProto-Indo-European*monti (compareWelshmynydd(“mountain”),Albanianmat(“bank, shore”),Avestan𐬨𐬀𐬙𐬌(mati,“promontory”)), from*men-(“to project, stick out”). Displaced nativeOld Englishbeorg anddūn, and partially displaced non-native Old Englishmunt, from Latinmōns (whence Englishmount).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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mountain (countable anduncountable,pluralmountains)

  1. (countable) Anelevation of land of considerable dimensions rising more or lessabruptly, forming aconspicuous figure in the landscape, usually having a small extent of surface at itssummit.[from 12th c.]
    Everest is the highestmountain in the world.
    We spent the weekend hiking in themountains.
    • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Jeremiah50:6:
      My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them awayon themountains: they have gone frommountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
    • 1807, Joseph Wilson, “Preliminary Observations”, inA History of Mountains, Geographical and Mineralogical, volume 1, London: Nicol, White, Faulders & Asperne,pages xlvi–xlvii:
      Wherever a geologist directs his attention in the midst of a scene ofmountains, traces of ruin and decay always meet his eye; and the lofty prominences of our globe, supposed to be the most permanent of nature's works, every where display unequivocal marks of the lapse and effects of time.
    • 1829,Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, inAl Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
      We walk’d together on the crown
      Of a highmountain which look’d down
      Afar from its proud natural towers
      Of rock and forest, on the hills— […]
  2. (countable) Something very large in size or quantity; a hugeamount; a greatheap.[from 15th c.]
    He was a realmountain of a man, standing seven feet tall.
    There's still amountain of work to do.
    • 2002 December 9, “A Mountain of Lies?”, inThe Economist‎[2]:
      Iraq says themountain of documentation it has provided to the United Nations shows it is innocent of harbouring weapons of mass destruction. America continues to maintain that it has evidence that this is a pack of lies.
  3. (figuratively) A difficulttask or challenge.
    • 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, inBBC Sport‎[3]:
      Five minutes into the game the Black Cats were facing amountain, partly because of West Brom's newly-found ruthlessness in front of goal but also as a result of the home side's defensive generosity.
  4. (uncountable, now historical)Wine fromMalaga made fromgrapes that grow on a mountain.[from 18th c.]
    • 1785-1789,James Boswell,The English Experiment (diaries):
      Called on Courtenay, with whom I walked to Hampstead Heath, and got into excellent spirits, enjoying fine fresh air; then dined with him tête-a-tête on mutton broth and mackerel and drankmountain and old port moderately.
  5. (countable, slang) Awoman's largebreast.
  6. (cartomancy) The twenty-firstLenormand card.

Usage notes

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  • As with the names ofrivers andlakes, the names of mountains are typically formed by adding the generic word before or after the unique term. In the case of mountains, when the word precedes the unique term,mount is used:Mount Olympus,Mount Everest,Mount Tai; when the word follows the unique term,mountain is used:Crowfoot Mountain,Blue Mountain,Rugged Mountain. Generally speaking, such names will be adjectives or attributive nouns, but many foreign placenames formed with adjectives—as China'sHuashan—are translated as though they were proper names:Mount Hua instead ofHua Mountain orFlourishing Mountain.Mountain chains are never named withmount, only withmountains, a translated term, or a pluralized name.

Synonyms

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Terms derived from Germanic roots
  • (obsolete in some senses)barrow
  • (chiefly South Africa)berg
  • (chiefly dialectal)berry
  • (chiefly Northern England)pike

Hyponyms

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Of the sense “an elevation of land”

Meronyms

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Of the sense “an elevation of land”

Holonyms

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Of the sense “an elevation of land”

Derived terms

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Single-word terms derived from “mountain”
Attributive uses of the noun “mountain”
Idioms with the word “mountain”
Proverbs with the word “mountain”
Other terms containing the word "mountain" (unsorted)

Related terms

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Terms derived from Latin “mōns”

Translations

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large mass of earth and rock
large amount

See also

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References

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  1. ^“mountain”, inDictionary.com Unabridged,Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.,
  2. ^“OALD”, in(Please provide the book title or journal name)‎[1], 2012 December 26 (last accessed), archived fromthe original on1 November 2012

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Middle English

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Noun

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mountain

  1. Alternative form ofmountayne
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