mont

Forms

mont m (plural monts)^[1] Old French also munt.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French mont, inherited from Latin mōns (“mountain”).^[4][1][5][6] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *mon-ti- (“protrusion, height”);^[7] Rey and the Petit Robert relate it to a root *men- (“to jut out”), also seen in mentum (“chin”).^[5][8] Cognate with Romanian munte, Italian monte, Spanish monte, Portuguese monte, Occitan mont and Catalan mont.^[8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 10th century, in the Passion, for a height and already in a place name, mont Olivet.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

From the start mont was a synonym of montagne but has been kept for place names and for poetic or literary use.^[5] The plural les monts is used of the Alps (Corneille, 1662).^[9][8] From 1176 it meant a heap, and about 1180 it came to mean a great quantity, as in les mons de deniers; classical French promised des monts d'or (1690), today monts et merveilles, a phrase recorded in Montaigne (1580).^[4][5][9]

The Old French pair et mont et val (about 1245) became par mons, par vaus and, in Cotgrave (1611), par monts et par vaux “all over the country”.^[4][5] In palmistry the word names a fleshy mound of the hand (Ronsard, 1564), and in anatomy the mont de Vénus (Oudin, 1640).^[4][5] Compounds include mont-blanc, a pastry (1863), and mont-d'or, a cheese of the Doubs (1874).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 980 – Mont and mont Olivet in the Passion.^[4][5]
• c. 1100 – Amunt “upward” in the Chanson de Roland.^[5][6]
• 1176 – Chrétien de Troyes uses en un mont “in a heap”.^[4]
• c. 1245 – Et mont et val in Philippe Mousket.^[4]
• 1564 – Ronsard uses it in palmistry.^[4]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records par monts et par vaux.^[4][9]
• 1640 – Oudin records mont de Vénus.^[4]
• 1690 – Furetière records des monts d'or.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary or dated) A mountain, a high natural elevation: du haut des monts.^[10][8][11]
2. (in place names) Mount: le mont Blanc, le mont Athos.^[8][9]
3. Les monts: the Alps.^[8][1]
4. Par monts et par vaux: all over the country, everywhere.^[8][10]
5. Promettre monts et merveilles: to make wonderful promises.^[8][10]
6. (palmistry) A fleshy mound of the palm;^[8][11][5] (anatomy) mont de Vénus, the mons pubis.^[8][11][5]

Word family

• mont-de-piété
• amont
• avant-mont

Related words

• monceau
• montagne
• monter
• monticule
• montueux
• promontoire
• Latin mōns

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)