surmount
verbUK /səˈmaʊnt/ · CA, US /sɚˈmaʊnt/
Etymology From Middle English surmounten, from Old French surmonter (“to rise above, surmount”), from sur- (“above”) + monter (“to mount”), equivalent to sur- + mount.
1
To get or be over without touching or resting on; to overcome.
- this difficulty may perhaps be surmounted by care and art1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 10:
- There are two realms: that of divine powers, another of the metadivine.¹ Even the gods are depicted as calling upon metadivine forces to surmount their own predestined limitations.1960, Yehezkel Kaufmann, “Chapter II: Pagan Religion”, in Moshe Greenberg, transl., The Religion of Israel, University of Chicago, →OCLC, page 23:
1 more example
- Burkina Fasoan legislation surmounts one more step which sees in the organ created in this country and designated as the Superior Council of Information (S.C.I.), " an administrative authority".1995, Study on Legislation Related to Regulations Organs in the Field of Broadcasting in West Africa:
2
To cap; to sit on top of.
- The boiler had a large dome over the firebox, inside the cab, surmounted by Ramsbottom safety valves.1951 April, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: London Midland Region”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 283:
- The ovolo surmounting the dentil course generally turns the corner by means of a carved acanthus leaf, the decorated cyma and cyma reversa being similarly treated at the corner.2007, Robert Chitham, The Classical Orders of Architecture, →ISBN:
- Derived terms
- surmountability, surmounter, unsurmountability, unsurmounted
- Related terms
- surmountable, insurmountable