surmount (v.)

early 14c., "have power, rule; have control over; gain power over" (now archaic or obsolete); late 14c. as "be higher than, be situated above," also "rise above, flood; go or fly beyond;" also "transcend" (a limit, a boundary). This is from Old French surmonter "rise above," from sur- "beyond" (see sur- (1)) + monter "to go up" (see mount (v.)).

The meaning "prevail over, overcome" (difficulties, obstacles, etc.) is by late 15c. The physical sense of "get on top of" is by 1530s; that of "be or stand over or upon" is from 1610s. Related: Surmounted; surmounting.

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to surmount

mount (v.)

c. 1300, mounten, "to get up on a horse;" mid-14c., "to rise up, rise in amount, ascend; fly," from Old French monter "to go up, ascend, climb, mount," from Vulgar Latin *montare, from Latin mons (genitive montis) "mountain" (from PIE root *men- (2) "to project"). The transitive meaning "to set or place in position" first recorded 1530s. Sense of "to get up on for purposes of copulation" is from 1590s. Meaning "prepare for presentation or exhibition" is by 1712. Military meaning "set up or post for defense" is by 1706; to mount an attack is by 1943. Related: Mounted; mounting.

surmountable (adj.)

late 15c., "conquerable, susceptible to conquest," from Anglo-French sormuntable; see surmount + -able.

sur-

*men-

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Trends of surmount

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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scale

[one of the skin plates on fish or snakes] c. 1300, from Old French escale "cup, scale, shell pod, husk" (12c., Modern French écale), from Frankish *skala or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *skæla "to split, divide" (source also of Dutch schaal "a scale, husk," Ol

overcome

Old English ofercuman "to reach, overtake, move or pass over," also "to conquer, prevail over, defeat in combat" (the Devil, evil spirits, sin, temptation, etc.), from ofer (see over) + cuman "to come" (see come (v.)). A common Germanic compound (Middle Dutch overkomen, Old High

subdue

late 14c., subduen, "to conquer (an army, a people, a land) and reduce to subjection," from Old French souduire (but this meant "deceive, seduce"), from Latin subducere "draw away, lead away, carry off; withdraw" (see subduce; also compare subduct). The primary sense in English s

make

Mosby's book — be prepared to surmount obstacles before you encounter them — equipped with the power to "make the grade"...

attain

c. 1300, "succeed in reaching, come so near as to touch," from ataign-, stem of Old French ataindre "to come up to, reach, attain, endeavor, strive" (11c., Modern French atteindre), from Vulgar Latin *attangere, corresponding to Latin attingere "to touch; arrive at," from ad "to"

head

Old English heafod "top of the body," also "upper end of a slope," also "chief person, leader, ruler; capital city," from Proto-Germanic *haubid (source also of Old Saxon hobid, Old Norse hofuð, Old Frisian haved, Middle Dutch hovet, Dutch hoofd, Old High German houbit, German Ha

master

late Old English mægester "a man having control or authority over a place; a teacher or tutor of children," from Latin magister (n.) "chief, head, director, teacher" (source of Old French maistre, French maître, Spanish and Italian maestro, Portuguese mestre, Dutch meester, Germa

stream

Middle English strem "course of water, current of a stream, body of water flowing in a natural channel," from Old English stream, from Proto-Germanic *strauma- (source also of Old Saxon strom, Old Norse straumr, Danish strøm, Swedish ström, Norwegian straum, Old Frisian stram, Du

outstrip

1570s, "to pass in running," originally in Lyly, perhaps from out- + Middle English strip "move quickly, make a stroke" (in reference to a weapon). c. 1400, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from stripe (n.). Or outstrip might be a corruption of outstrike (15c.), from strike (v

exceed

late 14c., exceden, "to go beyond," from Old French exceder (14c.) "exceed, surpass, go too far," from Latin excedere "depart, go beyond, be in excess, surpass," from ex "out" (see ex-) + cedere "to go, yield" (from PIE root *ked- "to go, yield"). Related: Exceeded; exceeding. Ex

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updated on February 10, 2025

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