Mount

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aÊŠnt

From Middle English, from Old English munt, from Latin mons ("a hill, mountain"), from a root seen also in

ēmineō ("I project, I protrude") (English eminent).

Full definition of mount

Noun

1. A mountain.
2. (obsolete) A bulwark for offence or defence; a mound.
• Bible, Jer. vi. 6Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem.
3. (obsolete) A bank; a fund.

Usage notes

Used chiefly in poetry, but also in the names of specific mountains, e.g. "Mount Everest".

Derived terms

• (abbreviation) Mt.

From Middle English mounten, from Anglo-Norman mounter, from Old French monter, from Medieval Latin montare ("to mount; literally, go up hill"), from Latin mons ("a hill, mountain"); compare French monter.

Noun

1. An animal, usually a horse, used to ride on, unlike a draught horseThe rider climbed onto his mount.
2. A mounting; an object on which another object is mounted.The post is the mount on which the mailbox is installed.
3. (obsolete) A rider in a cavalry unit or division.The General said he has 2,000 mounts.

Verb

1. To move upwards.
1. (transitive) To get upon; to ascend; to climb.
   to mount stairs
• John Dryden (1631-1700)Or shall we mount again the Rural Throne,
  And rule the Country Kingdoms, once our own?
2. (transitive) To place oneself on (a horse, a bicycle, etc.); to bestride.
   The rider mounted his horse.
3. (transitive) To cause to mount; to put on horseback; to furnish with animals for riding.
• John Dryden (1631-1700)to mount the Trojan troop
4. (obsolete, transitive) To cause (something) to rise or ascend; to drive up; to raise; to elevate; to lift up.
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)What power is it which mounts my love so high?
5. (obsolete, intransitive) To rise on high; to go up; to be upraised or uplifted; to tower aloft; to ascend; often with up.
• Bible, Jeremiah li. 53Though Babylon should mount up to heaven.
• Mrs. Cowley (1743-1809)The fire of trees and houses mounts on high.
2. (transitive) To attach (an object) to a support.
   to mount a mailbox on a post
• 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher Chapter 1, But then I had the massive flintlock by me for protection. ¶...The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook,....
1. (transitive, computing) To attach (a drive or device) to the file system in order to make it available to the operating system.
   How do I mount this external hard disk?
3. (intransitive, sometimes with up) To increase in quantity or intensity.The bills mounted up and the business failed.There is mounting tension in Crimea.
4. (obsolete) To attain in value; to amount (to).
• Alexander Pope (1688-1744)Bring then these blessings to a strict account,
  Make fair deductions, see to what they mount.
5. (transitive) To get on top of (an animal) to mate.
1. (transitive, slang) To have sexual intercourse with someone.
6. (transitive) To begin (a military assault, etc.); to launch.
   The General gave the order to mount the attack.
• 2012, May 5, Phil McNulty, Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool, For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places.
7. (transitive, archaic) To deploy (cannon) for use in or around it.
   to mount cannon
8. (transitive) To prepare and arrange the scenery, furniture, etc. for use in (a play or production).

Synonyms

Antonyms

• dismount
• demount
• unmount

Related terms

• amount
• mountain
• paramount
• surmount