Etymologically
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montagne

Etymology and origin of the French word montagne

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (montaigne)
Inherited from
Latin montanea via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (mōns)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɔ̃.taɲ/[1]

Forms

montagne f (plural montagnes)[1] Old and Middle French montaigne;[2] montagne from the 14th century.[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French montaigne, inherited from Late Latin montānea,[4][5][6][2][1][7] the feminine used as a noun of the Late Latin adjective montāneus, a variant of classical Latin montānus (“of the mountains”), from mōns (“mountain”).[5][2][8] Littré notes that montānus alone would have given “montain”, without the palatal consonant.[9]

Cognate with Italian montagna, Occitan montanha, Catalan muntanya and Spanish montaña.[6][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) uses it both for a great height of land and, as la montagne or les montagnes, for a mountainous region.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “heap, pile” is from 1644 (Corneille),[4][5] and la montagne qui accouche d'une souris “the mountain that gives birth to a mouse” goes back to La Fontaine (1668).[3][5] Mme de Sévigné uses it for a great difficulty (1689), as in se faire une montagne de.[3][5]

In Savoy and Switzerland it named a high alpine pasture (1761).[4][5] In 1792 la Montagne was the group of left-wing deputies on the highest benches of the Convention, the Montagnards.[4][5] Montagnes russes, a switchback or roller coaster, are recorded in 1816.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Montaigne (Roland).[4][2]
  • 1512 – Montagnard.[6]
  • 1644 – “A heap” (Corneille).[4]
  • 1668 – The mountain in labour (La Fontaine).[3]
  • 1761 – An alpine pasture.[4]
  • 1792 – La Montagne in the Convention.[4][5]
  • 1816 – Montagnes russes.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A mountain.[8][1]
  2. La montagne: mountainous country, the mountains: vacances à la montagne.[8][4]
  3. (figurative) A great heap: une montagne de dossiers; a great difficulty.[8][1]
  4. Montagnes russes: a roller coaster.[8][4]
  5. (history) La Montagne: the radical deputies of the Convention.[8][4]

Word family

  • montagnard
  • montagneux

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 100b
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Montagne.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/montagne. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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