Moorish Meaning
/ˈmʊə.ɹɪʃ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf ground, soil etc: boggy, marshy.
adjOf or pertaining to the Moors or their culture.
Sentence Examples
Moorish influence is evident in the music and architecture of this land.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ arches in the ancient palace were decorated with beautiful flower patterns.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The palace features several examples of ____ architecture, including intricate tile work and various beautiful horseshoe-shaped arches.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English Moor Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Old English -isċ Middle English -ish English -ish English Moorish From Moor + -ish.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I joy to see you wear around your neck the holy relic I bestowed on you; — but what Moorish charmlet is that you wear beside it?"
— 1829 May 2, [Walter Scott], Anne of Geierstein; or, The Maiden of the Mist. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Cadell and Co., […]; London: Simpkin and Marshall, […], →OCLC:
"Mar-a-Lago was quiet three days before Thanksgiving. Donald Trump’s Moorish palace seemed all but deserted late that morning, the seaside estate’s cavernous living room traversed intermittently by a junior staffer or silent aide."
— 2024 December 12, Eric Cortellessa, “Donald Trump 2024 TIME Person of the Year”, in Time, archived from the original on 22 Dec 2024:
"Make heauen to frowne and euery fixed ſtarre
To ſucke vp poiſon from the Mooriſh Fens,
And poure it in this glorious Tyrants throat."
— c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act IIII, scene ii:
"He recommended to me to plant a considerable part of a large moorish farm which I had purchased, and he made several calculations of the expence and profit: for he delighted in exercising his mind on the science of numbers."
— 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 880:
"The Lent term had pulled me down, a week of modest enjoyment thereafter in town had finished the work; and I drank in the sharp moorish air like a thirsty man who has been forwandered among deserts."
— 1899, John Buchan, No Man's Land:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ arches in the ancient palace were decorated with beautiful flower patterns.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The palace features several examples of ____ architecture, including intricate tile work and various beautiful horseshoe-shaped arches.