LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

mōns

mōns m (genitive montis)
Classical[ˈmõːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈmɔns]
№ 242 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. mountain, mount
    Aquītānia ā Garumnā flūmine ad Pȳrēnaeōs mōntēs et eam partem Ōceanī quae est ad Hispāniam pertinet...Aquitania extends from the Garonne river to the Pyrenaean mountains and that part of the ocean which reaches Iberia...c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 1.1
    Sed pater omnipotēns spēluncīs abdidit ātrīs, hoc metuēns, mōlemque et montīs īnsuper altōs imposuit, [...]. But the all-powerful Father [Jupiter] had hidden [the winds] in dark caverns, [because he was] fearing this [destruction], and above [them] he placed massive high mountains, …. (The words “molemque et montis” exemplify alliteration and hendiadys.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.60–62
  2. hill
    montibus hīs ōlim tōtus prōmittitur orbisTo these hills, one day, the whole world is promised.8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 1.517
  3. metonymicallytowering mass, heap, great quantity
  4. metonymicallymountain rock, rock (in general) (poetically)
  5. metonymicallymountain beasts, wild beasts (Late Latin, poetically)
  6. metonymically(of that which is obtained from the mountains) marble, marble column

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

altissima pars terrae; super montēs nix saepe iacet.
mōns montis m — in Mille Verba, Rūs et Agrīcultūra
hill, mountain
mōns, montis — in Viri Romae Facillimi, ch. 1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 26

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Mons · Jugum

Mons (from minari, eminere,) denotes the mountain with reference to its dimension of height; whereas jugum, with reference to its breadth and length, sometimes as the uppermost ridge, which, according as it is flat or pointed, is with yet greater precision called either dorsum or cacumen, in opp. to radices montis; sometimes as a range of mountains, particularly in an ascending direction, by which several mountains become joined, so as to form a chain, or pile of mountains, in opp. to the mountain itself. Liv. xxii. 18. Sub jugo montis prœlium fuit: comp. with xli. 18. Petilius adversus Balistæ et Leti jugum, quod eos montes perpetuo dorso conjungit, castra habuit. Or, Tac. G. 10, with 43, and Agr. 10. Or, Virg. Ecl. v. 76, with Ovid, Met. iv. 657. (v. 225.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativemōns
monticellus		montēs
monticellī
genitivemontis
monticellī		montium
monticellōrum
dativemontī
monticellō		montibus
monticellīs
accusativemontem
monticellum		montēs
montīs, monticellōs
ablativemonte
monticellō		montibus
monticellīs
vocativemōns
monticelle		montēs
monticellī

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

summus mons
the top of a mountain.
consistere in monte
to take up one's position on a mountain.
montes vestiti silvis
wooded hills.
obliquo monte decurrere
to run obliquely down the hill.
oppidum monti subiectum est
the town lies at the foot of a mountain.
tenere montem (B. G. 1. 22)
to hold a mountain.
altissimis montibus undique contineri
to be shut in on all sides by very high mountains.
Nilus praecipitat ex altissimis montibus
the Nile rushes down from very high mountains.
2 more phrases
considere sub monte (sub montis radicibus)
to occupy the foot of a hill.
sub radicibus montis, in infimo monte, sub monte
at the foot of the mountain.

mons, tis (archaic abl. montei, Enn. ap. Non. 222, 33; cf. Ann. v. 420 Vahl.), m. etym. dub., perh. from the root min, whence also, emineo, mentum, minari; cf. minae; lit. a projecting body; hence,
I. a mountain, mount.
I. Lit.: montium altitudines, Cic. N. D. 2, 39, 98: altissimi, Caes. B. G. 3, 1: avii, Hor. C. 1, 23, 2: inaccessi, Plin. 6, 28, 32, § 144: lapidosi, Ov. M. 1, 44.—Prov.: parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus, said where much is promised but little performed, Hor. A. P. 139.—
II. Transf.
A. A mountain, i. e. a (heaped-up, towering) mass, a heap, quantity: argenti montes, Plaut. Mil. 4, 2, 73: montes mali ardentes, id. Merc. 3, 4, 32; id. Ep. 1, 1, 78: ita mali maeroris montem maxumum conspicatus sum, id. Most. 2, 1, 6: mons in Tusculani monte, i. e. a lofty, splendid building near Tusculum, Cic. Pis. 21, 48: aquae, Verg. A. 1, 105: armorum, Sil. 10, 549.—Of a wagon-load of stones: eversum fudit super agmina montem, Juv. 3, 258; Stat. Th. 1, 145.—Prov.: montes auri polliceri, to promise mountains of gold, to make great promises, Ter. Phorm. 1, 2, 18; so, maria montesque polliceri, Sall. C. 23, 3: magnos montes promittere, Pers. 3, 65.—
B. A mountain-rock, rock in gen. (poet.): fertur in abruptum magno mons improbus actu, Verg. A. 12, 687: Graii, Greek marble, Stat. Th. 1, 145.—
C. Mountain-beasts, wild beasts (late poet.): consumant totos spectacula montes, Claud. Cons. Mall. Theod. 310.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*móntis
  3. Proto-Italic*monts
  4. Latinmōns

From Proto-Italic *monts, from Proto-Indo-European *món-tis, from the root *men- (“to stand out, to tower”). Compare Proto-Celtic *moniyos.

Gallo-Romance
  • Catalanmunt
  • Frenchmontfrom Old French mont
  • Occitanmont
  • Haitian Creolemònfrom Old French mont
  • Normanmontfrom Old French mont
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesemontefrom Old Galician-Portuguese monte
  • Spanishmonte
  • Asturianmonte
  • Galicianmontefrom Old Galician-Portuguese monte
Insular Romance
  • Sardinianmonte
Balkano-Romance
  • Romanianmunte
  • Aromanianmunti
  • Aromanianmunte
  • Istro-Romanianmunte
  • Megleno-Romanianmunti
Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italianmonte
  • Corsicanmonte
  • Dalmatianmuant
  • Istriotmonto
  • Sicilianmunti
  • Venetanmónte
Borrowings
  • Englishmountfrom Old English munt
  • Scotsmuntfrom Old English munt
Rhaeto-Romance
  • Ladinmont
  • Friulianmont
Elsewhere
  • Vulgar Latin*montāre

In English words that came into English from mōns

  • mountainmontānia
  • mount*montāre
  • mountainousmontāniōsus
  • montiformmōns
  • montanemontānus
  • monsmōns
  • montanicmontanus
  • monticulusmonticulus

Quick answers

What does mōns mean in Latin?
mōns, a noun, means “mountain, mount; hill; towering mass, heap, great quantity”.
What is the genitive of mōns?
The genitive singular is montis. mōns is masculine, third declension.
How do you pronounce mōns?
In classical Latin, [ˈmõːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈmɔns].
Where does mōns come from?
Proto-Indo-European *men- → Proto-Indo-European *móntis → Proto-Italic *monts → Latin mōns.
Which English words come from mōns?
English words that go back to Latin mōns include montiform, mons, mountain, mount, montane and montanic.