Morisco

//məˈrɪskəʊ// name, noun

name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative letter-case form of Morisco. alt-of
  2. 2
    A Moor, especially one who had converted to Christianity. historical

    "In May, 1600, the Count of Benavente, then viceroy of Valencia, was ordered to report whether the Moriscos of that kingdom had any intelligence with France."

  3. 3
    The Moorish style of architecture.

    "Ambrosio de Letinez, a fictitious hero of the early nineteenth century, accurately described the typical architecture of northern Mexico: “The style of building is the Morisco … throughout … Mexico; that is to say, the houses are almost universally one story high, with flat terrace roofs and few windows to the street. […]”"

  4. 4
    The morris dance. obsolete

    "Your wit skips a morisco; but, by the brightest spangle of tire, I vouchsafe you entire unaffected favour."

  5. 5
    A morris dancer. obsolete

    "I have seen / Him caper upright like a wild Morisco, / Shaking the bloody darts as he his bells."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The Moorish language.

    "But what makes him different from other comic figures are his Moorish customs and his Morisco dialect."

Example

More examples

"In May, 1600, the Count of Benavente, then viceroy of Valencia, was ordered to report whether the Moriscos of that kingdom had any intelligence with France."

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish morisco (“Moorish”), from moro (“Moor”).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.