surmount

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English surmounten, also sormounten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French surmonter (“to rise above”), also sormonter,^[5][6][7][2] and Anglo-Norman surmunter,^[5][8][2] which the Anglo-Norman Dictionary records from the 12th century.^[9] The French verb consists of sur- (“over, beyond”) and monter (“to go up”), the source of mount.^{[6][7][10][11]} The OED takes it from Medieval Latin supermontāre, and compares Old Occitan sobremontar and Italian sormontare.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To rise above, rule or prevail over: before 1325 in Barnhart,^[6] and the early 14th century in Etymonline, as "have power, rule".^[7] The OED's first record is later, about 1369, in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, meaning to excel.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Anglo-Norman verb already had the whole range of senses: to rise above, to sweep over of water, to defeat and to exceed.^[9] Middle English used it of what flies above or floods: in his Boece Chaucer writes of "swifte fetheris that surmounten the heighte of the hevene".^[2] The senses of surpassing a person in quality (about 1369 to 1670) and of exceeding an amount (about 1374 to 1776) have since died out.^[5][12] What has lasted is the sense of overcoming: a person or an emotion from 1390, in Gower, then from 1484, in Caxton, a temptation or hostility, now usually a difficulty or obstacle.^[5][7] The OED attributes that later use to association with the physical sense of getting over something,^[5] which the Shorter Oxford and Etymonline record from the 16th century.^[12][7] The sense of standing on top of something appears in the early 17th century, originally in heraldry, and is now common in the past participle.^[12][7] Johnson (1755) listed "to rise above" first and "to conquer; to overcome" second.^[13] A noun, something placed on top, is recorded from 1879.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1325 – to rise above; to rule or prevail over.^[6]
• c. 1369 – to excel, be superior to (obsolete by 1670).^[5]
• c. 1374 – to exceed in amount; to be higher than.^[5]
• 1390 – to overcome a person.^[5]
• 1484 – to overcome a temptation or difficulty.^[5]
• 1530s – to get on top of.^[7]
• 1610s – to stand or rest on top of.^[7][12]
• 1879 – noun, something placed on the top.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To prevail over or get past a difficulty or obstacle; to overcome: The young firm surmounted years of debt.^[11][4][5]
2. To climb up and across: The walkers surmounted the ridge before dusk.^[11][12]
3. To stand or lie on top of, or to crown; often in the passive: a tower surmounted by a copper dome.^[11][12]
4. To place something on top of.^[11]
5. (rare) To rise above or be higher than.^[5][12][4]
6. (archaic) To exceed in amount or size.^[4][5][12]
7. (obsolete, 1369–1670) To surpass in quality; to excel.^[4][5][12]

Word family

• surmountable
• surmounter
• unsurmounted

Related words

• insurmountable
• mount
• sur-

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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)
3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.