mons

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈmõːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɔns]^[1]

Forms

mōns m (genitive montis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *monti-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mon-ti- (“protrusion, height”), from the root *men- (“to project, tower”), also seen in ēmineō and mentum “chin”.^[2][1][3] De Vaan notes that the o-grade is unexpected.^[2]

Cognate with Welsh mynydd (“mountain”), Avestan maiti- (“mountain, height”) and Old Norse mœnir (“ridge of a roof”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius onwards,^[2][4] and Ennius writes of “steep mountains standing in the way”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a mountain or hill, and in the plural the hill country, as against the plain.^[3] It also meant a towering heap, as Cicero's “mountain” of building at Tusculum, and in the phrase montes et maria polliceri, “to promise mountains and seas”.^[3][5] Poets used it for a huge rock.^[3]

Medieval Latin used it for a mining area, and da monte meant “on the northern side”, towards the Alps.^[6] It survives in all the Romance languages, as Romanian munte, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese monte and French mont.^[7][1] English mountain came from Old French about 1200.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][4]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of steep mountains.^[3][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for the foot of a mountain and for the hill country.^[3][4]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses montes et maria polliceri.^[5][4]
• c. 1200 – English mountain is first recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mountain, hill.^[3][9]
2. (plural) The hill country.^[3]
3. A towering heap, mass; a great quantity.^[3][1]
4. (poetic) A huge rock.^[3][1]
5. (Medieval Latin) A mining area.^[6]

Word family

• montānus
• montensis
• monticellus
• monticola
• monticulus
• montifer
• montivagus
• montuōsus
• montāna

Related words

• mentum
• minae
• prōmunturium
• English mount
• English mountain
• English promontory

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes mons, a mountain seen in its height, from iugum, a ridge seen in its length and breadth.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper