tramontane

American  

[truh-mon-teyn, tram-uhn-teyn] / trəˈmɒn teɪn, ˈtræm ənˌteɪn /

adjective

1. being or situated beyond the mountains.

2. beyond the Alps as viewed from Italy; transalpine.

3. of, relating to, or coming from the other side of the mountains.

4. foreign; barbarous.

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noun

1. a person who lives beyond the mountains: formerly applied by the Italians to the peoples beyond the Alps, and by the latter to the Italians.

2. a foreigner; outlander; barbarian.

3. a violent, polar wind from the northwest that blows in southern France.

tramontane British  

/ trəˈmɒnteɪn /

adjective

1. being or coming from the far side of the mountains, esp from the other side of the Alps as seen from Italy

2. foreign or barbarous

3. (of a wind) blowing down from the mountains

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noun

1. an inhabitant of a tramontane country

2. Also called: tramontana.  a cold dry wind blowing south or southwest from the mountains in Italy and the W Mediterranean

3. rare a foreigner or barbarian

Etymology

Origin of tramontane

1300–50 for an earlier sense; 1585–95 tramontane for def. 5; Middle English tramountayne pole star < Italian tramontano < Latin trānsmontānus beyond the mountains. See trans-, mount ², -an

Example Sentences

At the second night's concert, the tramontane brought an unseasonable downpour that soaked the motionless audience to the skin before the concert was called off.

From Time Magazine Archive

Perpignan's tramontane, a strong, cold wind that sweeps along the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean, kept the orchestra grabbing for their music, finally made them clip the sheets to the racks with clothespins.

From Time Magazine Archive

The glowing reports of the charms of the tramontane country induced other pioneers to plant themselves in that wild, picturesque region.

From History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia by Campbell, Charles

One of the first to revive these tramontane expeditions was General Ashley, of Missouri, a man whose courage and achievements in the prosecution of his enterprises have rendered him famous in the Far West.

From The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U. S. A., in the Rocky Mountains and the Far West by Bonneville, Benjamin Louis Eulalie de

It means what there is as yet no precise name for in England, though the practice is as common as in any tramontane country whatever.

From The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 4 by Coleridge, Ernest Hartley