Skip to content

sormontare

to surmount

verb sor-mon-TAH-reh Rare
Mind & Emotions Attitudes

Origin: From Latin super + montare (to mount over).

Also means

to overcome

Usage Note

Sormontare can be literal — a statue that surmounts a column — or figurative, meaning to overcome an obstacle or difficulty. In the literal sense it is close to sovrastare (to tower over); in the figurative sense it overlaps with superare. It is formal and more common in written Italian. Takes avere as auxiliary.

Examples

"È riuscita a sormontare ogni ostacolo."

Natural Translation

She managed to surmount every obstacle.

Explore Italian by topic