mountain, noun

Origin:
Afrikaans
Used attributively in the names of fauna and flora, in Special Combinations
mountain cypress, the shrub or small tree Widdringtonia nodiflora of the Cupressaceae; berg cypress, see berg sense 1 b ii;
mountain goose [translation of Afrikaans berggans], the berggans (see berg sense 1 b ii), Alopochen aegyptiacus;
mountain zebra [influenced by Afrikaans bergquagga, see quagga], any of several zebras of the Equidae (although in earlier times the distinctions between the different zebras was not always noted, the name ‘mountain zebra’ is now used exclusively for Equus zebra zebra): (a) Equus zebra zebra, now often with defining word as Cape mountain zebra; bergquagga, see quagga sense 1 b; dauw; quagga sense 1 a iii; wild horse, see wild sense b; also attributive; also called wildepaard (sense (a), see wilde sense b); (b) The quagga (sense 1 a ii), E. burchelli. (c) The quagga (sense 1 a i), E. quagga.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 343Mountain cypress, Widdringtonia cupressoides.
1971 J.A. Marsh in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. III. 538The mountain cypress differs from both the Clanwilliam and the Willowmore cedar in the shape of the adult leaf and the scales of the female cones.
1972 Palmer & Pitman Trees of Sn Afr. I. 334The mountain cypress is usually a shrubby tree, seldom — in South Africa — more than 30 feet (9m) high, and widespread in the mountains of the south, south east, and north. In tropical Africa this is a large tree up to 140 feet (43m) high.
1987 T.F.J. Van Rensburg Intro. to Fynbos 16Mountain cypresses (Widdringtonia nodiflora) often reach tree size when they are protected against fire for long enough or when they grow in sheltered spots.
1990 M. Oettle in Weekend Post 29 Dec. (Leisure) 7Widdringtonia nodiflora, the mountain cypress.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 138There are Three Sorts of Wild Geese in the Cape-Countries...The Hill or Mountain-Goose is larger than an European Tame Goose.
1937 H. Sauer Ex Afr. 183River duck, solan goose, and the berg or mountain goose.
1994 M. Roberts tr. of J.A. Wahlberg’s Trav. Jrnls 1838–56 11At Sand Valley hunted herons and mountain geese but in vain.
1844 J. Backhouse Narr. of Visit 572The Mountain Zebra, Equus Zebra, called Wilde Ezel or Wild Ass, is abundant here.
1878 T.J. Lucas Camp Life & Sport 218Burchell’s zebra..differs also from the mountain or true zebra, in the marking of the stripes, which is not continued down the legs as in the zebra proper.
1897 H.A. Bryden Nature & Sport 96Here, upon inaccessible cliffs, and rugged hills, still finds shelter that rare beast, the true or mountain zebra, an animal now becoming very scarce. This quadruped (Equus zebra) gallops the mountains, and climbs from steep to steep.
1957 L.G. Green Beyond City Lights 32In the Van Riebeeck diary you will see that the men found the tracks and droppings of an animal they had heard about, but never seen. It was the mountain zebra.
1971 Argus 10 May 4One of the most rare species of mammal in the world — the mountain zebra.
c1978 Report No.34 (Dept of Nature & Environ. Conservation) 37One Cape mountain zebra foal died.
1988 K. Sutton in Motorist May 23Mountain zebra need to migrate to better grazing to survive.
1990 Skinner & Smithers Mammals of Sn Afr. Subregion 576Only two subspecies have been described, the Cape mountain zebra E. z. zebra, from the Cape Province, and Hartman’s mountain zebra, E. z. hartmannae, of Namibia and Angola.
Entry Navigation
Motswana, nounn.mousebird, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English.