montagna

Forms

montagna f (plural montagne)^[1] An old form is Old Italian montagnia.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *montānea (“mountainous places”), from mōns (“mountain”).^[3][4][5][6] Nocentini explains it as a neuter plural taken as a feminine singular, and GRADIT and DEI as the feminine of montāneus (“mountainous”), used for classical montānus.^[3][4][5] The form Medieval Latin montania is attested in the 8th-century Reichenau Glossary and in Italy at Cava in 872 and 991.^[1][5][2] The DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance noun “mountainous region; mountain”, built with a rare collective suffix on the word for “mountain”, and notes that it never reached written Latin: it was a word of the spoken language.^[7]

The same word is French montagne (12th century), Occitan montanha, Catalan montanya, Spanish montaña, Portuguese montanha and Romansh muntagna; it is missing in Romanian, Dalmatian, Friulian and Ladin.^[3][8][7][5] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mon-ti- (“protrusion, height”), with cognates such as Welsh mynydd (“mountain”) and Avestan maiti (“height”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Brunetto Latini, before 1294.^[10][4] In his Tesoretto the narrator, coming to his senses, looks around the mountain: “mi volsi e posi mente / intorno a la montagna, / e vidi turba magna / di diversi animali” (“I turned and looked around the mountain, and saw a great crowd of different animals”).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the word for a mountainous region (1313–1319), and the figurative sense “huge quantity” (una montagna di libri) is in Gentile Sermini in the 15th century.^[10] Montagne russe, the roller coaster of fairs, is recorded in 1834, and mal di montagna “altitude sickness” in 1891.^[10] The fable of the mountain in labour gives la montagna ha partorito un topolino, said when great expectations end in a trifling result.^[11][12]

In the Lepontine, Rhaetian and Orobic Alps montagna also means the summer pasture or the dairy hut there.^[4] During the French Convention of 1792–1795 the Montagna was the radical group that sat in the highest seats, and montagnardo was taken from French montagnard in the 18th century.^[4][3] Derivatives include montagnoso and montagnino, the brambling, both of the 14th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 8th century – Medieval Latin montania appears in the Reichenau Glossary.^[1]
• 872 – Montania is recorded at Cava.^[5]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses montagna.^[10][4]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses it for a mountainous region.^[10]
• 15th century – Gentile Sermini uses it for a great quantity.^[10]
• 1834 – Montagne russe “roller coaster” is recorded.^[10]
• 1891 – Mal di montagna is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mountain, a high rise of the earth's surface, above about 600–700 metres: Quest'estate vogliamo scalare una montagna delle Alpi.^[4][6][13]
2. Mountains as a place to live or holiday: andare in montagna, to go to the mountains.^[4][6][13]
3. (figurative) A huge heap or quantity: Ho una montagna di lettere a cui rispondere.^[4][13][11]
4. (figurative) A very big, heavy person.^[4]
5. (regional, Alps) A high summer pasture, or its dairy hut.^[4]
6. (history, capitalised) The Mountain, the radical group in the French National Convention of 1792–1795.^[4]

Word family

• montagnoso
• montagnolo
• montagnola
• montagnino
• montagnardo
• montagnese

Related words

• monte
• montano
• Latin mōns
• French montagne

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 10, 837
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2502
6. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse