montane

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*men-“to stand out, to tower”
2. Latin · derived frommontānus“of or pertaining to a mountain”
3. English todaymontane

The adjective is derived from Latin montānus (“of or pertaining to a mountain”). Synchronically, it can be seen to have the suffix English -ane (variant of -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives)). Montānus is derived from mōns (“mount, mountain”) (from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stand out, to tower”)) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). The noun is probably derived from the adjective.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from mid 19th c. Of, inhabiting, or growing in mountain areas; specifically, the cool, moist upland slopes below the timberline.