Etymology

insurmountable

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Today it means: Incapable of being passed over, surmounted, or overcome; insuperable Full definition →

English surmountable ← Middle English surmounten ← Old French sormonter
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Middle Englishin-
  6. Englishin-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  8. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  9. Proto-Italic*super
  10. Latinsuper
  11. Latinsuper-
  12. Old Frenchsur-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  14. Proto-Indo-European*móntis
  15. Proto-Italic*monts
  16. Latinmōns
  17. Vulgar Latin*montāre
  18. Old Frenchmonter
  19. Old Frenchsormonter
  20. Middle Englishsurmounten
  21. Englishsurmount
  22. Englishsurmountable
  23. English todayinsurmountable

From in- + surmountable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.