Moor

UK: 'Moor', 'moor': /ˈmʊə/ US: /mʊr/ ,'Moor', 'moor': (mŏŏr)

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Moor / mʊə mɔː/ noun

1. a member of a Muslim people of North Africa, of mixed Arab and Amazigh descent. In the 8th century they were converted to Islam and established power in North Africa and Spain, where they established a civilization (756–1492)

Etymology: 14th Century: via Old French from Latin Maurus, from Greek Mauros, possibly from Tamazight

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

moor¹ /mʊr/   n. [countable]

1. Geography an area of open wasteland, often overgrown with grass and heath.

moor² /mʊr/   v. 

1. to hold and attach (a ship, etc.) in a particular place, as by ropes or anchors: [~ + object]
   The crew moored the ship to the dock.
   [no object]
   We moored next to the dock.
2. [~ + object] to attach firmly;
   secure.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

moor¹  (mŏŏr), n. 

1. Geography a tract of open, peaty, wasteland, often overgrown with heath, common in high latitudes and altitudes where drainage is poor;
   heath.
2. a tract of land preserved for game.

• bef. 900; Middle English more, Old English mōr; cognate with Dutch moer, German Moor marsh

moor′y, adj. 

moor²  (mŏŏr), v.t. 

1. to secure (a ship, boat, dirigible, etc.) in a particular place, as by cables and anchors or by lines.
2. to fix firmly;
   secure.

v.i. 

3. to moor a ship, small boat, etc.
4. to be made secure by cables or the like.

n. 

5. the act of mooring.

• 1485–95; earlier more, akin to Old English mǣrels- in mǣrelsrāp rope for mooring a ship; see marline

Moor  (mŏŏr), n. 

1. a Muslim of the mixed Berber and Arab people inhabiting NW Africa.
2. a member of this group that invaded Spain in the 8th century a.d. and occupied it until 1492.

• Greek Maûros
• Latin Maurus
• Middle French, variant of Maure
• Middle English More 1350–1400

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

moor / mʊə mɔː/ noun

1. a tract of unenclosed ground, usually having peaty soil covered with heather, coarse grass, bracken, and moss

Etymology: Old English mōr; related to Old Saxon mōr, Old High German muor swamp

ˈmoory adjective

moor / mʊə mɔː/ verb

1. to secure (a ship, boat, etc) with cables or ropes
2. (of a ship, boat, etc) to be secured in this way
3. (not in technical usage) a less common word for anchor11

Etymology: 15th Century: of Germanic origin; related to Old English mǣrelsrāp rope for mooring