mountainous

Etymology

It is formed from English mountain + -ous,^[2][3][4][5] partly after French montagneux,^[6] recorded in Old French as montaigneux from the 13th century.^[2] Klein derives the English word from the French one, from Vulgar Latin *montāneōsus,^[7] and Etymonline allows a source in Medieval Latin montaniosus.^[4] Similar formations are Spanish montañoso, Portuguese montanhoso and Italian montagnoso.^[2] The base is from Old French montaigne, from Vulgar Latin *montānea (“mountain region”), from Latin montānus (“of mountains”), from mōns (“mountain”).^[4][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Situated among mountains: about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible (Jeremiah), a rare sense obsolete by the mid 17th century.^[2][5][6] Hoad notes that the word was rare before the 17th century.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The usual modern sense, having many mountains, is recorded from 1598 in Florio's Italian–English dictionary.^[2] Shakespeare used the word in Coriolanus (before 1616) for anything as huge as a mountain, often figuratively.^[2][6] In 1613 Purchas used it of people who lived in remote mountains and so were thought uncivilized, a sense now obsolete.^[2][6][3] Johnson (1755) gave three senses: "hilly; full of mountains", "large as mountains; huge; bulky", and "inhabiting mountains".^[10] A sense "coming from or typical of mountains" was used from 1683 to about 1801.^[2][6]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – situated among mountains (Wycliffite Bible; obsolete by 1649).^[2][5]
• 1598 – having many mountains (Florio).^[2]
• 1613 – living in the mountains; uncivilized (Purchas).^[2]
• before 1616 – huge, like a mountain (Shakespeare, Coriolanus).^[2]
• 1683 – coming from or typical of mountains (obsolete by 1801).^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson: "hilly; full of mountains".^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having many mountains: a mountainous part of the island.^[11][3][2]
2. Like a mountain, especially in size; huge or enormous: mountainous waves broke over the harbour wall.^[11][3][2]
3. (obsolete) Living in remote mountain regions, and so regarded as uncivilized.^[3][6]

Word family

• mountainously
• mountainousness
• nonmountainous
• unmountainous

Related words

• mountain
• mount
• mountaineer

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
6. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ 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.
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins