Etymograph

English

montante

Montante comes from Spanish montante ‘a two-handed sword’, from montar ‘to mount’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to stand out, to tower’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-1‘to stand out, to tower’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*móntis1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*monts1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmons2as montem‘mountain, mount’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*montāre2‘climb’reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400monter2‘to go up’
  7. Old Spanishc. 950–1500montar2
  8. Spanishc. 1500–presentmontar3‘to mount’
  9. Spanishc. 1500–presentmontante4‘a two-handed sword’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 2020montante4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mons
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Spanish montar
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Spanish montante
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English montante
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Kat Ross, Balthazar's Bane: “"Choose a zweihander if you prefer." He seemed about…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-Wiktionary, Latin mons‘to stand out, to tower’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*móntisWiktionary, Latin monsreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*montsWiktionary, Latin monsreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmonsWiktionary, Spanish montaras montem‘mountain, mount’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*montāreWiktionary, Spanish montar‘climb’reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400monterWiktionary, Spanish montar‘to go up’
  7. Old Spanishc. 950–1500montarWiktionary, Spanish montar
  8. Spanishc. 1500–presentmontarWiktionary, Spanish montante‘to mount’
  9. Spanishc. 1500–presentmontanteWiktionary, English montante‘a two-handed sword’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 2020montanteWiktionary, English montante. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Kat Ross, Balthazar's Bane: “"Choose a zweihander if you prefer." He seemed about…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to stand out, to tower’

music, mind, money, remain, museum, comment, mouth, auto, min, mental, mention, permanent, mountain, monitor, monster, maya, demonstration, mentor, mint, amnesty, muse, dementia, monetary, menace, ming, prominence, mas, imminent, monk, mosaic, eminent, monument, amnesia, mandarin, eminence, muster, mania, monastery, summon, manic, 117 more

through Proto-Italic *monts

montero, 10 more

through Latin mons ‘mountain, mount’

amount, monte, mons, 11 more

through Vulgar Latin *montāre ‘climb’

mount, 2 more

through Old French monter ‘to go up’

surmount, 2 more

Today it means

noun A type of longsword used in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “montante”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin mons, Spanish montar, Spanish montante. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *men- / montante

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