moor

name

1. A surname.
2. A surname.

noun

Etymology: 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.

1. A member of an ancient Amazigh people from Mauretania.
2. 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.

   “[King of] Moro[cco]. Ye Moores and valiant men of Barbary, How can ye ſuffer theſe indignities?”

3. A Muslim or a person from the Middle East or Africa.
4. A person of mixed Arab and Amazigh ancestry inhabiting the Mediterranean coastline of northwest Africa.
5. 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.).

verb

Etymology: 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”).

1. To cast anchor or become fastened.

   “The vessel moored in the stream.”

2. 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.

   “They moored the boat to the wharf.”

   “His thought is tied, the curving prow Of motion moored to rock; And minutes burst upon a brow Insentient to shock.”

3. To secure or fix firmly.