Etymologically
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mountainous

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈmaʊn.tɪ.nəs/[1]
  • US: /ˈmaʊn.tɪ.nəs/, /ˈmaʊn.tə.nəs/[1]

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

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