muntos

Forms

muntos m or n (feminine singular muntoasă, masculine plural muntoși, feminine/neuter plural muntoase)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian munte + -os, “full of mountains”, the view of DEX, MDA2 and DLR.^[2][3][4] Tiktin also derives it from munte.^[5] Older dictionaries took it straight from Latin montuōsus (“mountainous”): Candrea and Densusianu, Scriban and Șăineanu.^[6][7][8] Scriban also names the shorter Latin variant montōsus.^[7] Wiktionary leaves both explanations open.^[1] The Latin adjective is formed on mōns (“mountain”) with the suffix -ōsus (“full of”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1816, in Petru Maior's Învățătură, and MDA2 and DLR cite the same work.^[5][3] The DLR quotation advises driving cattle to higher or mountainous places: „la locuri mai nalte, sau muntoase” “to higher or mountainous places”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first described land made up of mountains or rich in them.^[4][3] Nineteenth-century writers used it of landscapes and coasts: Bălcescu wrote of a mountainous belt, and Caragiale's stage direction calls for a mountain landscape.^[4] MDA2 and DEX add the looser senses “of the mountain” and “mountain-” as a modifier.^[3][2] Older synonyms were muntenos and the regional muntenat.^[4][3]

Timeline

• 1816 – first record, in Petru Maior's Învățătură.^[5][3]
• 19th century – used by Bălcescu and Caragiale.^[4]
• 1870 – Costinescu's dictionary glosses it with French montagneux.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. mountainous: made up of mountains or covered with them: o regiune muntoasă “a mountainous region”.^[2][3][10]
2. Rich in mountains.^[3][4]
3. Of the mountain; mountain- (as a modifier).^[2][3]

Related words

• munte
• Latin montuōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 683
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 78
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. muntos
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. muntos
6. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. 193
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 842
8. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 413
9. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 125
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. muntos