mountainous
Meaning
having many mountains
very large or massive like a mountain
Structure
Usage
the mountainous region is popular with hikers and climbers.
they faced mountainous debts after the failed venture.
waves were mountainous during the severe storm at sea.
Etymology
the word 'mountainous' is a relatively transparent english formation. its core, 'mountain', entered english in the 13th century from old french montaigne, which itself evolved from the latin accusative montanea, a derivative of mons (genitive montis) meaning 'mountain'. the latin mons is traced back to the proto-indo-european root men- meaning 'to project, stand out', a concept perfectly suited for describing prominent landforms. the adjectival suffix '-ous', also of latin origin via french, was systematically attached to nouns to create descriptive terms. thus, the literal construction 'full of mountains' logically evolved to describe both terrain rich in peaks and, by figurative extension, anything of immense size or quantity.
Analysis
- mountain: from latin montanus (of a mountain), from mons (mountain). functions as the core noun root. - ous: a suffix of latin origin (-osus) via old french -ous, used to form adjectives meaning 'abounding in, full of, characterized by'.