montacargas

See also: monta-cargas

Galician

Etymology

Calque of French monte-charge, from monta (“it lifts”) +‎ cargas (“loads”).

Noun

montacargas m (invariable)

1. (UK) service lift, goods lift, cargo lift; (US) freight elevator, goods elevator, service elevator, cargo elevator (a lift designed to carry heavy goods in a place of business)

Spanish

A service lift

Etymology

Verb-object compound, composed of monta (“to lift (originally)”) +‎ cargas (“loads”). Calque of French monte-charge.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /montaˈkaɾɡas/ [mõn̪.t̪aˈkaɾ.ɣ̞as]
• Rhymes: -aɾɡas
• Syllabification: mon‧ta‧car‧gas

Noun

montacargas m (plural montacargas)

1. (UK) service lift, goods lift, cargo lift; (US) freight elevator, goods elevator, service elevator, cargo elevator (a lift designed to carry heavy goods in a place of business)
2. (Latin America) forklift, lift truck, jitney, fork truck (a small industrial vehicle with a power-operated fork-like pronged platform that can be raised and lowered for insertion under a load, often on pallets, to be lifted and moved)

   Synonyms: (Spain) carretilla elevadora, (Chile) grúa horquilla, (Spain, colloquial) toro, (Argentina, Uruguay) mula

Further reading

• “montacargas”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28