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montañoso

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word montañoso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1280 Alfonso X, General estoria IV More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Latin mons
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Spanish montaña
Spanish montañoso

Pronunciation

  • /montaˈɲoso/, [mõn̪.t̪aˈɲo.so][1]

Forms

montañoso (feminine montañosa, masculine plural montañosos, feminine plural montañosas)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish montaña + -oso.[2][1] Corominas lists it under monte with the date 1490.[2][3] Wiktionary also traces it to montāniōsus, formed from montānia, and Du Cange records this word.[1][4] montaña continues Vulgar Latin *montanea, from Latin mons (“mountain”).[2][5] De Vaan traces the Latin noun to Proto-Indo-European *mon-ti- (“protrusion, height”).[6]

The same formation is Portuguese montanhoso, Galician montañoso, Asturian montañosu, Catalan muntanyós, Occitan montanhós, French montagneux and Italian montagnoso.[1][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fourth part of Alfonso X's General estoria (1280) describes the lands between the rivers as tierras montannosas & asperas “mountainous and rough lands”.[9] Corominas's first record is Alfonso de Palencia's Latin–Spanish vocabulary of 1490, which glosses Latin consitum as montañoso de árbores “thick with trees”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as said of a place or land broken up by mountains, with a quotation from López de Ayala's Caída de príncipes.[10] The Academy kept that definition until 1899, when it split it into “relating to mountains” and “abounding in them”, the two senses of the DLE today.[11][12][13]

Timeline

  • 1280 – montannosas in the General estoria IV.[9]
  • 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario, Corominas's date.[3][2]
  • 1493 – the earliest text in the HSMS archive.[14]
  • 1625 – first record from the Americas, of a very mountainous island.[15]
  • 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades enters it.[10]
  • 1899 – the Academy defines its two present senses.[12]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to mountains (montañas): el clima montañoso del norte.[13][16]
  2. mountainous: having many mountains: Atravesamos una región muy montañosa.[13][1][17]
  • montañés
  • montano
  • montuoso
  • Portuguese montanhoso
  • English mountainous

Usage notes

Common set phrases are cadena montañosa “mountain range” and sistema montañoso “mountain system”.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. monte
  3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 131
  4. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  5. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. montaña
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 408
  8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. montanhoso
  9. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. montañoso
  10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 600
  11. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 519
  12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 671
  13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. montañoso
  14. ^ Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
  15. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. montañoso
  16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. montañoso
  17. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. montañoso
Cite this entry

“Montañoso.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/monta%C3%B1oso. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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