Mont Blanc
3
5.6
- proper noun
- /mɒnt blɑːŋk/
- The breathtaking view from Mont Blanc offers a panoramic sight of the surrounding mountains.
- Mont Blanc Tunnel
Examples
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The snow-capped peak of Mont Blanc is particularly beautiful at sunrise.
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Climbers from around the world attempt to scale Mont Blanc every year.
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We could see Mont Blanc in the distance as we drove through the Alps.
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I want to climb Mont Blanc this summer.
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Have you ever hiked Mont Blanc?
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Many climbers aspire to reach the summit of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps.
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During winter, Mont Blanc attracts thousands of tourists for skiing and snowboarding.
Synonyms
1
6.7
The highest mountain in the Alps on the border between France and Italy
Surface Forms
Morphology
Mont + Blanc
The parts are French (mont = mountain, blanc = white), so a learner who knows those constituents could infer this is a mountain (literally “white mountain”), giving partial compositional sense. However, the full meaning — a specific proper name referring to the highest peak in the Alps on the France–Italy border — is not predictable from the parts alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Mont Blanc comes from French words mont ('mountain') and blanc ('white'). The picture is of a very high, snow-covered peak that looks white from far away, so it was called 'white mountain' and today Mont Blanc is the name of that tall, snowy peak in the Alps.