Montague
Americannoun
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(in Shakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet ) the family name of Romeo.
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William Pepperell 1873–1953, U.S. philosopher.
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a male given name.
Usage
What does Montague mean? Montague is the family name of the character Romeo from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is the son of Lord and Lady Montague. The house of Montague is in a bitter feud with the house of Capulet for reasons never revealed in the play. Other characters on the side of the Montagues include Lord Montague’s nephew Benvolio, Romeo’s friend Mercutio, and the servants Abram and Balthasar. In the play, Romeo falls in love with Juliet Capulet at first sight. Because of the feud, they meet in secret and eventually secretly get married. Later, Romeo is exiled from the city after killing Juliet’s cousin Tybalt out of revenge for Tybalt’s accidental killing of Mercutio. Hearing of Romeo’s exile, Juliet devises a plan in which she fakes her own death so that she can meet Romeo in the Capulet family tomb. However, Romeo believes Juliet to actually be dead and kills himself with poison to join her in the afterlife. Upon discovering that Romeo is dead, Juliet stabs herself to death. The deaths of their children cause Lord Montague and Lord Capulet to end their feud.
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Other Shakespeare characters given musical attention by Prokofiev—such as the heads of the Capulet and Montague families, Juliet’s Nurse, Friar Lawrence and Paris—are not found here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
Other invitees include a flighty young woman named Theodora and the homeowner’s nephew Luke; they join the scheming Montague and the home’s caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
Shakespeare's classic story has been told many times before, of two young lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, whose families are embroiled in a bitter feud.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2025
Earlier on Tuesday, Thames chairman Sir Adrian Montague clarified comments he had made about bonuses to a committee of MPs last week.
From BBC ● May 20, 2025
It was Mrs. Montague, inside, clearly just awakened.
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
