surmount

[ser-mount]

See more synonyms for surmount on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to mount upon; get on the top of; mount upon and cross over: to surmount a hill.
to get over or across (barriers, obstacles, etc.).
to prevail over: to surmount tremendous difficulties.

to be on top of or above: a statue surmounting a pillar.
to furnish with something placed on top or above: to surmount a tower with a spire.
Obsolete.
1. to surpass in excellence.
2. to exceed in amount.

Origin of surmount

1325–75; Middle English surmounten < Anglo-French surmounter, Middle French. See sur-¹, mount¹

Related formssur·mount·a·ble, adjectivesur·mount·a·ble·ness, nounsur·mount·er, nounun·sur·mount·a·ble, adjectiveun·sur·mount·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for surmountable

achievable, attainable, beatable

Examples from the Web for surmountable

Contemporary Examples of surmountable

Either one of these alone is surmountable for a skilled and ambitious politician.
Why I'd Rather be a Black Republican
Jamelle Bouie
February 17, 2014

Historical Examples of surmountable

In the mass they are appalling but singly they are surmountable.
A Daughter of the Middle Border
Hamlin Garland
Listen, then, to the difficulties that beset us, and say if they are surmountable.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 379, May, 1847
Various
Rather on the north-west side, the hill is surmountable by a zig-zag path, up which a loaded mule can climb with some difficulty.
An Old Sailor's Yarns
Nathaniel Ames
Once at least within historic memory the barrier of the Caucasus had proved to be surmountable.
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 5. (of 7): Persia
George Rawlinson
Insurmountable, in-sur-mownt′a-bl, adj. not surmountable: that cannot be overcome.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for surmountable

surmount

verb (tr)

to prevail over; overcometo surmount tremendous difficulties
to ascend and cross to the opposite side of
to lie on top of or rise above
to put something on top of or above
obsolete to surpass or exceed

Derived Formssurmountable, adjectivesurmountableness, nounsurmounter, noun

Word Origin for surmount

C14: from Old French surmonter, from sur- 1 + monter to mount 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for surmountable

adj.

late 15c., from Anglo-French sormuntable; see surmount + -able.

surmount

late 14c., "to rise above, go beyond," from Old French surmounter "rise above," from sur- "beyond" (see sur-) + monter "to go up" (see mount (v.)). Meaning "to prevail over, overcome" is recorded from late 14c. Related: Surmounted; surmounting.