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surmount

UK/səˈmaʊnt/US/sɚˈmaʊnt/
verbC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,042 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: surmounted, surmounting, surmounts

To surmount is to get over a difficulty or an obstacle. Surmount the difficulties, insurmountable, surmount every obstacle.

The negative is far commoner, and calling a problem insurmountable is a stronger claim than most people intend. Of a building it means to stand on top of, so a dome may surmount a tower.

Definitions of surmount

  1. 1verbsurmountTo get over a difficulty or an obstacle.C1

    “She surmounted many obstacles, including poverty and illness, to become a doctor.”

surmount is an overcoming.

Where it comes from

Old French sormonter is sur, above, plus monter, to climb.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *men-

  2. Old French

    sormonter — to rise above, surmount

  3. Middle English

    surmounten

  4. English, today

    surmount

Built from

  • sur- · Old French — above
  • monter · Old French — to mount

From Middle English surmounten, from Old French sormonter (“to rise above, surmount”), from sur- (“above”) + monter (“to mount”), equivalent to sur- + mount.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

surmount in the wild

  • The peaks rise to approximately 200 m, have rocky, ice-free slopes and surmount Renier Point.

    Lyulin Peak

  • The heights surmount Saedinenie Snowfield to the northwest, Rose Valley Glacier to the northeast, Debelt Glacier and Panega Glacier to the southeast, and Kaliakra Glacier to the south.

    Vidin Heights

  • Gleaner Heights surmount Saedinenie Snowfield to the northwest, Kaliakra Glacier to the east and Perunika Glacier to the southwest.

    Gleaner Heights

  • The Cagle Peaks are a group of sharp peaks that surmount the south end of White Escarpment in the Heritage Range.

    Cagle Peaks

  • Jagged 2000 to 3000 m peaks including Vanand and Toros Peaks surmount the ridge, which separates Hinkley Glacier from the upper part of Dater Glacier.

    Zinsmeister Ridge

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

  • mount
  • dismount