montane

/ˈmɒnteɪn/

//ˈmɒnteɪn// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"montane" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“montane” is uncommon English (frequency #66,846 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,846
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of, inhabiting, or growing in mountain areas; specifically, the cool, moist upland slopes below the timberline.

Corpus desk

Index EN-montane · montane · English

montane · rank #66,846 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #66,846
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH monoculture

Nearest frequency peer: monoculture (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “montane”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “montane” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for montane
PropertyValue
Headwordmontane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈmɒnteɪn/
Letters7
Frequency rank#66,846
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “montane” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).montanefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “monoculture” (#66,845), “moonwalk” (#66,847), “monasticism” (#66,844). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “montane” is #66,846. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

montane is uncommon English at frequency #66,846 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈmɒnteɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of, inhabiting, or growing in mountain areas; specifically, the cool, moist upland slopes below the timberline.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for montane, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is derived from Latin montānus (“of or pertaining to a mountain”). Synchronically, it can be seen to have the suffix English -ane (variant of -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives)). Montānus is derived from mōns (“mount… The correct English form is montane, spelled M-O-N-T-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of, inhabiting, or growing in mountain areas; specifically, the cool, moist upland slopes below the timberline.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how montane appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. This plant evidently occupies, like V. sabulosa and V. Curtisii, an intermediate position between lutea and tricolor; and, as I have indicated already, it is a montane, not an agrestal plant. Jordan compares it to V. vivariensis, which is also a montane plant, between V. tricolor and V. lutea.
  2. [T]he upper part of these peaks is very bare and monotonous, and almost destitute of damp precipice; and I know of only seven Montane species that grow there above 650 yards.

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Latin montānus (“of or pertaining to a mountain”). Synchronically, it can be seen to have the suffix English -ane (variant of -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives)). Montānus is derived from mōns (“mount, mountain”) (from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stand out, to tower”)) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). The noun is probably derived from the adjective.

This word in other languages

montano(Español)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "montane"?
"montane" is spelled M-O-N-T-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɒnteɪn/.
What does "montane" mean?
As an adjective, "montane" means: Of, inhabiting, or growing in mountain areas; specifically, the cool, moist upland slopes below the timberline.
How do you pronounce "montane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "montane" is /ˈmɒnteɪn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "montane"?
The adjective is derived from Latin montānus (“of or pertaining to a mountain”). Synchronically, it can be seen to have the suffix English -ane (variant of -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives)). Montānus is derived from mō... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "montane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Marxian#66,820nitrile#66,874lensing#66,801overeat#66,909

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list