mountain

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A very high, steep hill, usually with rocky sides and a peak.

   Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

2. 2
   noun

   A very large amount or number of something.

   I have a mountain of paperwork to deal with at the end of each month.

3. 3
   noun

   A difficult task or challenge.

   After the injury, getting back to full fitness felt like climbing a mountain.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Mountain descends from a French development of Latin mons, meaning “mountain.” It entered English in the Middle Ages and shares this Latin origin with mount, amount, and paramount.

From Middle English mountayne, mountain, montaigne, from Anglo-Norman muntaine, muntaigne, from Early Medieval Latin montānia, a collective based on Latin montem (“mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *monti (compare Welsh mynydd (“mountain”), Albanian mat (“bank, shore”), Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬙𐬌 (mati, “promontory”)), from *men- (“to project, stick out”). Displaced native English barrow (from Old English beorg) and down (from Old English dūn), and partially displaced non-native Old English munt, from Latin mōns (whence English mount).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary