tramontane

[ truh-mon-teyn, tram-uhn-teyn ]

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.

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

/ 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

noun

1. an inhabitant of a tramontane country
2. Also calledtramontana a cold dry wind blowing south or southwest from the mountains in Italy and the W Mediterranean
3. rare.
   a foreigner or barbarian

Word History and Origins

Origin of tramontane¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of tramontane¹

C16: from Italian tramontano , from Latin trānsmontānus , from trans- + montānus , from mōns mountain

Example Sentences

The tramontane winds come down from the Appenines so sharply, that delicate constitutions, particularly those liable to pulmonary complaints, suffer invariably.

From Project Gutenberg

Ah! for heaven's sake, my dear creature!" exclaimed my husband, "don't mention the tramontane.

From Project Gutenberg

Now, half a degree the other way, in the tramontane region north of the Ridges, they found themselves in the presence of a vegetation that spoke of an advance, however minute, towards the pole.

From Project Gutenberg

I have forgotten whether it was the mistral or the tramontane, and I do not think it matters.

From Project Gutenberg

He cast not a glance at the pretty faces of the young Englishwomen, with whose blue veils the tramontane played.

From Project Gutenberg