montant

plural montants

1. archaicfencingAn upward cut with a blade.

   HOST: To see thee fight, to see thee foin, to see thee traverse; to see thee pass thy punto, thy stock, thy reverse, thy distance, thy montant.

   c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

plural montants

1. businessAn upright piece in any framework, such as a muntin or stile.
2. drinkingThe first scent of a cognac.

   Instead, let the montant meet your nose just above the rim of the glass.

   2004, Anthony Dias Blue, The Complete Book of Spirits, →ISBN, page 238

1. not comparablegovernmentAscending toward the chief of the escutcheon.

   […] as it is usually designated, the 'crescent montant,' has long been a symbol of the Turkish empire, which has thus[…]

   1873, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, page 178

   1 more example

   The eagle montant, to borrow a term from falconry, is understood to typify the mythical phœnix, and may be regarded as alluding to the vicissitudes of that illustrious and ever-resurgent family.[…]

   2018 January 31, R. D. Blackmore, Delphi Complete Works of R. D. Blackmore (Illustrated), Delphi Classics, →ISBN