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.
Compare meaning
How does montague compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
Montague plotting, are never explained—into the nether reaches beneath the hall’s seating area proves an intriguing stroke.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026
“Everybody knew somebody, it seemed like, who knew somebody who was affected by it,” Heidi Montague, a Tucson resident, said of the shooting.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
In the early 20th century, a clergyman named Montague Summers wrote histories of European vampires that displayed his erudition and eccentricity—not least because he was sure that vampires really did exist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025
Challenged by World at One presenter Helen Montague over whether his own behaviour had been militant, Vine said he was "just a safety first kind of a guy".
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2025
“I’ve already spoken to the sister,” Mrs. Montague said importantly.
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.
