mortar English · revision 39842

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈmɔːtə/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈmoɹtɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|bowl; cannon}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Old English, mortere|origins=la mortārium}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|morter]], partly [[inh|ang|mortere]], [[bor|la|mortārium|t=a vessel for pounding; the material pounded in it]],^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) and partly reborrowed from Anglo-Norman and [[m|fro|mortier]], of the same Latin origin;^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) the English spelling was later brought into line with the Latin.^(Hoad 1986)^(ODE 2010) Hoad and the Shorter Oxford also see a share of [[gml|mortēr]].^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) The Latin noun is of uncertain origin:^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005) Watkins and Barnhart derive it from an Indo-European root meaning to rub away or pound,^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) Klein from a participle [[ine-pro|*mr̥tós|t=rubbed, pounded]],^(Klein 1966) and Merriam-Webster compares [[grc|μαραίνω|tr=maraínō|t=to waste away]], relating it to [[smart]].^(MWU 2024) The same Latin word gave [[goh|mortāri]] and [[de|Mörser]].^(Klein 1966)^(Weekley 1921) The cannon is [[m|frm|mortier]], the same word, named for its squat shape like a pounding bowl.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Ayto 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bowl of hard material in which substances are pounded with a pestle: early Old English, in the Cleopatra Glossary,^(OED 2026) about 1000 in Barnhart and before the 12th century in Merriam-Webster.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The form ''morter'' is recorded about 1150, and ''mortar'' in 1381.^(Barnhart 1988) Anglo-Norman ''mortier'' had the same sense from the late 12th century.^(AND)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The pounding bowl was a tool of the apothecary and the cook,^(OED 2026) and was used figuratively from the Wycliffite Bible on (a1382).^(OED 2026) Like the Anglo-Norman word, Middle English ''mortar'' also named a bowl of wax or oil with a floating wick, used as a night light (a1398–1894).^(OED 2026)^(AND)^(MWU 2024) From 1547 the word named a short, wide-bored piece of artillery that throws shells at a high angle,^(OED 2026) first called a ''mortar-piece'' (1550s),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) by comparison of its shape with the bowl;^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005)^(Weekley 1921) it was later used of any device firing a projectile on a high trajectory, such as a firework or a lifeline (1669).^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) gave both the pounding vessel and the short cannon for bombs.^(Johnson 1755) The verb ''to mortar'', to fire mortar shells at, is recorded from 1944.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) In 18th- and 19th-century slang the bowl, with its pestle, served as a sexual double entendre.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – ''mortere'', a pounding bowl.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a1382 – figurative use.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1398 – a night light of wax or oil (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1547 – a short cannon.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1550s – ''mortar-piece''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1669 – a device for firing fireworks or lifelines.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1944 – the verb, to attack with mortars.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A strong [[bowl]] in which substances are [[crush|alt=crushed]] or ground with a [[pestle]]: ''She ground the cardamom in a stone mortar.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A short [[cannon]] or tube-shaped weapon that fires [[shell|alt=shells]] at a steep angle over a short range.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A similar device for firing [[lifeline|alt=lifelines]], [[firework|alt=fireworks]] and the like.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To attack or hit with mortar shells.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mortarboard]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|building material}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1300, Floris and Blauncheflur|origins=la mortārium}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|morter]], [[bor|xno|morter]] and [[m|fro|mortier|t=builder's mortar; mixing bowl]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) partly also taken directly from [[la|mortārium]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) the same word as the pounding bowl, with the sense transferred from the vessel to the material prepared in it, as already in Latin.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) Ayto and Cresswell explain the transfer by the grinding of the ingredients.^(Ayto 2005)^(Cresswell 2021) [[nl|mortel]] and [[de|Mörtel]] are from Latin or French.^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A mixture of lime, sand and water used to bind stones or bricks: about 1250 in Barnhart and Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the OED's first quotation from ''Floris and Blauncheflur'' (a1300).^(OED 2026) The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records builder's ''mortier'' in Anglo-Norman from the second quarter of the 12th century.^(AND)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figurative uses, of something that binds or holds together, are recorded from Langland's ''Piers Plowman'' (about 1400),^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) and the extended sense of plaster or any mortar-like substance from 1440.^(OED 2026) From 1582 to 1798 the word could stand for building or masonry in general.^(OED 2026) The verb, to plaster or join with mortar, is recorded from 1610, in a figurative passage by Donne.^(OED 2026) The phrase ''bricks and mortar'', for buildings as property, is listed by the Shorter Oxford.^(SOED 2002) In Scotland the word named a coarse red clay, and in Northamptonshire a ''mortar-spit'' was the board holding the mortar; in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire ''to mortar'' meant to tramp mud about with dirty feet.^(Wright 1898)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – builder's mortar.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1400 – figurative, a binding force.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1440 – plaster or a similar substance.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1610 – the verb, to fix with mortar.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A mixture of [[cement]] or [[lime]] with [[sand]] and water, used to bond [[brick|alt=bricks]] or stones and to cover walls.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Something that binds or holds things together.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fix, join or plaster with mortar.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mortarless]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pestle]]

+ * [[cement]]

+ * [[smart]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}