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Glite Dictionary
Mount Athos

Mount Athos

7.8
A piece of land in the northeast of Greece with many Greek Orthodox monasteries
  • proper noun
translation icon : Monte Athos
  • Pilgrims travel from all over the world to visit Mount Athos and its ancient monasteries.

Examples

  • Entry to Mount Athos is strictly regulated to preserve its religious traditions.

  • The spiritual communities of Mount Athos have existed for more than a thousand years.

  • I visited Mount Athos last summer.

  • Have you ever been to Mount Athos?

  • Entry to Mount Athos is strictly regulated to preserve its religious traditions.

  • Pilgrims travel from all over the world to visit Mount Athos and its ancient monasteries.

  • The spiritual communities of Mount Athos have existed for more than a thousand years.

Synonyms

Athos
vsMount Athos
17 9.1

A peninsula in northeastern Greece with many monasteries where Orthodox monks live

highlights ongoing spiritual heritage and many active monastic communities

Surface Forms

Mount Athos main

Morphology

mount + Athos

The form is transparently compositional: 'Mount' signals a geographical elevation (or place named as a mountain) and 'Athos' is a proper name, so a learner who knows both parts will infer it denotes a specific geographic place named Athos. Place-name formations like 'Mount X' are cross-linguistically common, making this readily interpretable by B1 learners who know the constituents.

Etymology

Mount Athos may get its name from an old Greek story about a giant called Athos who threw a rock and made a tall, lonely mountain. Today Mount Athos is a real piece of land that sticks out into the sea and is famous for its many 'monasteries' and its own self-run religious community, so the name now refers to this special holy place.