mora

mora¹ blackberry, mulberry

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɔ.ra/^[1]

Forms

mora f (plural more)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the fruit is inherited from Vulgar Latin *mōra, from Latin mōrum (“mulberry; blackberry”), whose neuter plural was taken as a feminine singular.^[2][3][4][1] Tuscan pronounces it with open /ɔ/ rather than the close /o/ expected from Latin /oː/, under the influence of moro² “dark”.^[3][5]

The same word is French mûre, Occitan mora, Catalan mora, Spanish mora, Portuguese mora, Sardinian mura and Romanian mură;^[3][6] Old French had moure.^[3][6] Some southern dialects continue a plural *morora instead, as in Neapolitan morule.^[6]

The Latin word is probably taken from Ancient Greek μόρον (móron, “black mulberry, blackberry”), though its long vowel is unexpected.^[1][7] DELI prefers to see it, like other fruit names, as coming from a Mediterranean language, and Nocentini calls it a pre-Latin substrate word.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Istoria of the Pseudo-Uguccione, a Lombard text of the first half of the 13th century, where the word names the fruit of the bramble.^[8][3] DELI dates the mulberry to 1310 (Bencivenni) and the blackberry to Boccaccio, before 1375, with a Medieval Latin record at Parma in 1347.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the fruit in comparisons: nero come una mora “black as a blackberry”, and non valere una mora or quattro more gelse “not to be worth a thing”.^[8] An old proverb said that something was più lontano che gennaio dalle more, as far off as January is from blackberries.^[9][10]

Because of its shape the word was used in medicine for a small fleshy growth at the corner of the eye or around the nipple.^[5][4] Embryology coined morula (1892), “little mulberry”, from the Latin word, and mora itself is used in the same sense from 1983.^[3][10]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – The Pseudo-Uguccione's Istoria has the word for the blackberry.^[8]
• 1310 – Bencivenni uses it for the mulberry.^[2]
• 1347 – Medieval Latin mora “blackberry” is recorded at Parma.^[2]
• Before 1375 – Boccaccio uses it for the blackberry.^[2]
• 1892 – Morula is coined in embryology.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A blackberry, the dark purple fruit of the bramble, eaten fresh or made into jam.^[4][11][12]
2. A mulberry, the fruit of the mulberry tree.^[4][11][12]
3. (uncommon) A small fleshy growth at the inner corner of the eye or around the nipple.^[4][5]

Word family

• moracea
• morula

mora² delay; default

Etymology tree of mora²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin mōra

Romanian mură

Italian mora

From the same root · mora²

Latin moror ← mōra

Latin morōsus ← mōra

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɔ.ra/^[1]

Forms

mora f (plural more, relational adjective moratorio)^[1]

Etymology

The word for delay is learned: it is borrowed from Latin mora (“delay”).^[2][3][4][1] The legal sense of default in an obligation appears late in the 15th century.^[2] The word is also Spanish mora.^[3]

The Latin noun had the derived verb moror (“to delay”), from which come moratorius and morōsus (“lingering”).^[2][13] The simple verb survives little in Romance; the word lives on mainly through compounds, as in dimorare and remora.^[3] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *morā and a root Proto-Indo-European *morh₂-, with the cognate Old Irish maraid (“lasts, remains”); the Old Irish verb is the only sure comparison.^[13][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jacopone da Todi, who died in 1306, has the phrase senza mora “without delay”, in the general sense of hesitation or delay.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The general sense of delay, respite or postponement lasted in literary use.^[5] The legal sense, an unjustified delay in fulfilling an obligation, is recorded before about 1492, and with it came moratoria (1528, Sanudo), moroso “in default” (1689) and morosità (1749, Muratori).^[2] In everyday use mora also became the sum due for a late payment.^[4][10]

In Latin metre the mora is the time of one short syllable, and linguistics uses it as the unit of phonological length.^[4][12] The literary phrase nelle more means “in the meantime”.^[10][14]

Timeline

• Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses mora for delay.^[2][5]
• Before about 1492 – The legal sense of default is recorded.^[2]
• 1528 – Moratoria appears in Sanudo.^[2]
• 1689 – Moroso “in default” is recorded.^[2]
• 1749 – Muratori uses morosità.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) Delay, hesitation, respite.^[4][12][14]
2. (law) An unjustified delay in fulfilling an obligation, which may give rise to damages: essere in mora, mettere in mora.^[4][10][14]
3. A late fee, the sum owed for a delayed payment.^[4][10][14]
4. (prosody) The smallest unit of rhythm in Greek and Latin verse, the length of a short syllable.^[4][12][14]
5. (linguistics) A mora, the unit of phonological length equal to a short vowel.^[4][12]

Word family

• moratoria
• moratorio
• moroso
• morosità