Montagnard

[ mon-tuhn-yahrd, -yahr ]

noun

, plural Mon·ta·gnards, (especially collectively) Mon·ta·gnard.

1. (sometimes lowercase) a member of a dark-skinned people of mixed ethnic origins inhabiting the highland areas of Vietnam.

Montagnard

/ -ˈjɑː; ˌmɒntənˈjɑːd /

noun

1. a member of a hill people living on the border between Vietnam, Laos, and NE Cambodia
2. a member of a North American Indian people living in the N Rocky Mountains

Word History and Origins

Origin of Montagnard¹

1835–45; < French: literally, mountaineer. See mountain, -ard

Word History and Origins

Origin of Montagnard¹

C19: from French: mountaineer, from montagne mountain

Example Sentences

The mountainous region in the Central Highlands was populated by Montagnard villagers, whom Army advisers — and before them, C.I.A. officers — tried to shape into a bulwark against the Vietcong, the Communist insurgency aligned with North Vietnam.

From New York Times

In 1992, Mr. Thayer followed the Vietnam War-era Ho Chi Minh Trail and encountered a lost group of the U.S.-allied Montagnard militia that did not know the conflict had been long over.

From Washington Post

The case began in 2018, when a Facebook page critical of Sam Rainsy posted a video of a 2013 meeting he had in the United States with Kok Ksor, a leader of the ethnic Jarai hilltribe who headed the Montagnard Foundation, a U.S.-based organization representing the interests of hilltribe minorities who live in central Vietnam and northeastern Cambodia.

From Seattle Times

Around the corner was an old Montagnard man holding a long knife used to cut corn, ready to defend his family.

From Washington Post

That meant that all the native Montagnard civilians had been relocated to secure hamlets near U.S. bases and that anyone left behind was a target.

From Washington Post