The Spanish word 'montón' (meaning 'heap' or 'pile') comes from combining the Spanish word 'monte' (meaning 'mountain') with the augmentative suffix '-ón'. The word 'monte' itself derives from the Latin word 'mons', which also meant 'mountain'. The augmentative suffix '-ón' adds the sense of something being large or impressive, so 'montón' literally developed as meaning 'big mountain' and then evolved to mean any large pile or heap of things, metaphorically resembling a mountain in shape and size.

A simpler and very common related Spanish word is 'monte', meaning 'mountain' or 'hill'. While 'monte' refers to a natural geographical elevation, its derivative 'montón' came to be used for any pile or heap that resembles a mountain in shape. You might also encounter words like 'montaña' (mountain) and 'montar' (to mount, to climb), which share the same Latin root.

Several English words share the same Latin ancestor 'mons'. The most obvious ones are 'mount' and 'mountain'. You can also see this root in words like 'amount' (originally referring to moving upward), 'paramount' (literally meaning 'up the mountain', hence 'supreme'), and 'surmount' (to overcome, literally 'to climb over'). The connection between height and quantity that we see in 'montón' (pile) is also present in English 'amount'.