mountainとは

意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From Middle English mountayne, mountain, montaigne, from Anglo-Norman muntaine, muntaigne, from Old French montaigne, from Vulgar Latin *montānea, feminine of *montāneus (“mountainous”), alteration of Latin montānus, from mōns (“mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *monti (compare Welsh mynydd (“mountain”), Albanian mat (“bank, shore”), Avestan ��������‎ (mati, “promontory”)), from *men- (“to project, stick out”). Displaced native Middle English berwe, bergh, from 古期英語 beorg (whence English barrow); and partially displaced non-native 古期英語 munt, from Latin mōns (whence English mount).

発音

• (Received 発音) IPA^(key): /ˈmaʊn.tɪn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmaʊn.tən/, [ˈmaʊn.tn̩]^[1][2] [ˈmãʊ̯̃(n)ʔn̩], [ˈmæ̃ʊ̯̃(n)ʔn̩]
• 韻: -aʊntɪn, -aʊntən
• 米国発音: moun‧tain

名詞

mountain (countable かつ uncountable, 複数形 mountains)

1. (countable) An elevation of land of considerable dimensions rising more or less abruptly, forming a conspicuous figure in the landscape, usually having a small extent of surface at its summit. [from 12th c.]

   Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

   We spent the weekend hiking in the mountains.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Jeremiah 50:6:

     My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.

   • 1807, Joseph Wilson, “Preliminary Observations”, in A History of Mountains, Geographical and Mineralogical, volume 1, London: Nicol, White, Faulders & Asperne, pages xlvi–xlvii:

     Wherever a geologist directs his attention in the midst of a scene of mountains, traces of ruin and decay always meet his eye; and the lofty prominences of our globe, supposed to be the most permanent of nature's works, every where display unequivocal marks of the lapse and effects of time.

2. (countable) Something very large in size or quantity; a huge amount; a great heap. [from 15th c.]

   He was a real mountain of a man, standing seven feet tall.

   There's still a mountain of work to do.

   • 2002 December 9, “A Mountain of Lies?”, in The Economist‎^[2]:

     Iraq says the mountain of documentation it has provided to the United Nations shows it is innocent of harbouring weapons of mass destruction. America continues to maintain that it has evidence that this is a pack of lies.

3. (figuratively) A difficult task or challenge.
   • 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎^[3]:

     Five minutes into the game the Black Cats were facing a mountain, partly because of West Brom's newly-found ruthlessness in front of goal but also as a result of the home side's defensive generosity.

4. (uncountable, now historical) Wine from Malaga made from grapes that grow on a mountain. [from 18th c.]
   • 1785-1789, James Boswell, The English Experiment (diaries)

     Called on Courtenay, with whom I walked to Hampstead Heath, and got into excellent spirits, enjoying fine fresh air; then dined with him tête-a-tête on mutton broth and mackerel and drank mountain and old port moderately.

5. (countable, slang) A woman's large breast.
6. (cartomancy) The twenty-first Lenormand card.

使用する際の注意点

As with the names of rivers and lakes, the names of mountains are typically formed by adding the generic word before or after the unique term. In the case of mountains, when the word precedes the unique term, mount is used: Mount Olympus, Mount Everest, Mount Tai; when the word follows the unique term, mountain is used: Crowfoot Mountain, Blue Mountain, Rugged Mountain. Generally speaking, such names will be adjectives or attributive nouns, but many foreign placenames formed with adjectives—as China's Huashan—are translated as though they were proper names: Mount Hua instead of Hua Mountain or Flourishing Mountain.

Mountain chains are never named with mount, only with mountains, a translated term, or a pluralized name.

同意語

下位語

Meronyms

Holonyms

派生語

関連する語

参考

• Category:Mountains

Further reading

• mountain on Wikipedia.
• Mountain in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

参照

• mountain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• mountain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.