different between mountain vs mastiff

English

Etymology

From Middle English mountayne, mountain, montaigne, from Anglo-Norman muntaine, muntaigne, from Old French montaigne, from Vulgar Latin *mont?nea, feminine of *mont?neus (“mountainous”), alteration of Latin mont?nus, from m?ns (“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 Old English beorg (whence English barrow); and partially displaced non-native Old English munt, from Latin m?ns (whence English mount).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ma?nt?n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?ma?nt?n/, /?ma?ntn?/ [?mã???(n)?n?], [?mæ????(n)?n?]
• Rhymes: -a?nt?n, -a?nt?n

Noun

mountain (countable and uncountable, plural 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.
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.
3. (figuratively) A difficult task or challenge.
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.

Usage notes

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.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Meronyms

Holonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• Category:Mountains

Further reading

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

References

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

Anagrams

• antimuon

Middle English

Noun

mountain

1. Alternative form of mountayne

English

Alternative forms

• Mastiff

Etymology

From Middle English mastif, mastyf, an aberrant derivation (with influence from Old French mestif) from Old French mastin (modern French mâtin), from Vulgar Latin *mansuetinus (“tamed (animal)”), from Latin mansuetus (“tamed”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, UK) IPA^(key): /?mæst?f/

Noun

mastiff (plural mastiffs)

1. One of an old breed of powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dogs, used chiefly as watchdogs and guard dogs.
   • 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act III, Scene VI

     Avaunt, you curs! Be thy mouth or black or white, Tooth that poisons if it bite; Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim, Hound or spaniel, brach or him.

   • 1896, Theodore Roosevelt, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, The Century Co., chapter 11

     The Mastiff is a good fighter, and can kill a wildcat, taking the necessary punishment well, as we found out when we once trapped one of these small lynxes.

Hypernyms

• molosser

Translations