Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “mountainous” come from?

Mountainous derives from Old French montaingneus, from Old French montaigne, from Vulgar Latin montania, from Latin mons meaning mountain, from Proto-Indo-European men-.

mountainous (English): Having many mountains; characterized by...

Definitions

  1. Having many mountains; characterized by...

Ancestry of “mountainous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishMountaina steam locomotive of the 4-8-2 wheel arrangement
2Middle EnglishmountayneA mountain; a mount or peak; A lump or pile
3Anglo-Normanmontaigne—
4Latinmontānia—
5Latinmontemaccusative singular of mōns; mountain
6Latinmonsmountain, mount; towering mass, heap, great...
7Proto-Indo-Europeanmonti—
8PortugueseMonte—
9Old Portuguesemonte—

Words derived from “mountainous”

  • mountainously
  • nonmountainous
  • unmountainous
  • mountainousness
  • intramountainous
Every word from Old Portuguese monte →