Montagnard

/ˌmɑn.tənˈjɑɹd/ noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A member of La Montagne (The Mountain), a French political group active 1792-1799 during the French Revolution of 1789. historical
  2. 2
    A member of La Montagne (The Mountain), Democratic Socialists active 1849-1852 in the French Second Republic after the French Revolution of 1848. historical
  3. 3
    A member of the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. demonym
  4. 4
    A member of the Khmer Loeu, highland tribes in Cambodia. demonym, historical

Etymology

Via French montagnard (“mountaineer, mountain-dweller”), from Middle French montaigne from Old French montaigne from Early Medieval Latin montānia (“mountain”), a collective based on Latin mont- (“mountain”), from Proto-Italic *monts, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stand out, to tower”). The French group was so called because they sat on the topmost benches.

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