surmount
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English surmounten, from Old French surmonter (“to rise above, surmount”), from sur- (“above”) + monter (“to mount”).
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
surmount (third-person singular simple present surmounts, present participle surmounting, simple past and past participle surmounted)
- (transitive) To get or be over without touching or resting on; to overcome.
- 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 10:
- this difficulty may perhaps be surmounted by care and art
- (transitive) To cap; to sit on top of.
- 1951 April, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: London Midland Region”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 283:
- The boiler had a large dome over the firebox, inside the cab, surmounted by Ramsbottom safety valves.
- 2007, Robert Chitham, The Classical Orders of Architecture, →ISBN:
- The ovolo surmounting the dentil course generally turns the corner by means of a carved acanthus leaf, the decorated cyma and cyma reversa being similarly treated at the corner.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
to get over; to overcome
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Further reading edit
- “surmount”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “surmount”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “surmount”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Middle English edit
Verb edit
surmount
- Alternative form of surmounten