Moor
name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 An extensive waste covered with patches of heath, and having a poor, light (and usually acidic) soil, but sometimes marshy, and abounding in peat; a heath. (Compare bog, peatland, marsh, swamp, fen.)
"A cold, biting wind blew across the moor, and the travellers hastened their step."
- 2 A member of an ancient Amazigh people from Mauretania. historical
- 3 open land usually with peaty soil covered with heather and bracken and moss wordnet
- 4 A game preserve consisting of moorland.
- 5 A member of an Islamic people of Arab or Amazigh origin ruling Spain and parts of North Africa from the 8th to the 15th centuries. historical
"[King of] Moro[cco]. Ye Moores and valiant men of Barbary, How can ye ſuffer theſe indignities?"
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- 6 one of the Muslim people of north Africa; of mixed Arab and Berber descent; converted to Islam in the 8th century; conqueror of Spain in the 8th century wordnet
- 7 A Muslim or a person from the Middle East or Africa. archaic
- 8 A person of mixed Arab and Amazigh ancestry inhabiting the Mediterranean coastline of northwest Africa. dated
- 9 A person of an ethnic group speaking the Hassaniya Arabic language, mainly inhabiting Western Sahara, Mauritania, and parts of neighbouring countries (Morocco, Mali, Senegal etc.).
- 1 To cast anchor or become fastened. intransitive
"The vessel moored in the stream."
- 2 secure with cables or ropes wordnet
- 3 To fix or secure (e.g. a vessel) in a particular place by casting anchor, or by fastening with ropes, cables or chains or the like. transitive
"They moored the boat to the wharf."
- 4 come into or dock at a wharf wordnet
- 5 To secure or fix firmly. transitive
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- 6 secure in or as if in a berth or dock wordnet
- 1 A surname.; A surname from Irish.
- 2 A surname.; An English surname transferred from the given name.
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Were you in the moor yesterday?"
Etymology
From Middle English mor, from Old English mōr, from Proto-West Germanic *mōr, from Proto-Germanic *mōraz, from Proto-Indo-European *móri. Cognates include Welsh môr, Old Irish muir (from Proto-Celtic *mori); Scots muir, Dutch moer, Old Saxon mōr, Old Saxon mūr, German Moor and perhaps also Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹 (marei). See mere.
From Middle English moren, from unattested Old English *mārian, from Proto-West Germanic *mairōn (“to moor, fasten to”), related to *maida- (“post”), from Proto-Indo-European *mēyt-, *meyt-, from *mēy-, *mey- (“stake, pole”). Cognate with Dutch meren (“to moor”), marren (“to bind”).
From Middle English More, Moore, from Old French More (modern French Maure), from Latin Maurus (“a Moor, meaning a Mauretanian, an inhabitant of Mauretania”), from Ancient Greek Μαυρούσιος (Mauroúsios, “Mauretanian”). Doublet of Moro.
Related phrases
More for "moor"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.