insurmountable

Etymology

It is formed from English in- + surmountable,^[2][3][4][5] perhaps after French insurmontable, recorded in Cotgrave's dictionary of 1611;^[2][6] Johnson had already derived it from the French word.^[7] Surmountable is from surmount and -able, and Etymonline traces it to Anglo-Norman sormuntable;^[3][2] the verb is from Old French surmonter (“to rise above”), from sur- (“over, beyond”) and monter (“to go up”).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

That cannot be surmounted, overcome or passed over: 1696, in the new edition of Edward Phillips's dictionary The New World of Words.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1690s and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1690;^[3][4] Dictionary.com gives 1690–1700.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to its first record, applying mostly to difficulties and obstacles.^[2][4][9] Johnson (1755) defined it as "insuperable; unconquerable", quoting Locke and Watts on an insurmountable difficulty.^[7] The adverb insurmountably is recorded from the mid 18th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1696 – that cannot be surmounted or overcome.^[2]
• mid 18th century – the adverb insurmountably.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Too great to be overcome or passed over; insuperable: The team faced an insurmountable lead in the final quarter.^[9][4][2]

Word family

• insurmountability
• insurmountably

Related words

• surmount
• surmountable
• mount

Usage notes

Etymonline quotes Brachet's description of the French word insurmontable as a "ghastly philological monster".^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins