Mora

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɔːɹə/

From Latin mora ("duration of time, delay").

Full definition of mora

Noun

1. (Scottish law) A delay in bringing a claim.
2. (poetics) A unit used to measure lines and stanzas of poetry.
• 1918, Elcanon Isaacs, “The Metrical Basis of Hebrew Poetry”, in The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, volume 35, page 22:In the quantitative meters in Sanskrit a heavy syllable is considered to be equal to two morae and a light syllable equivalent to one mora.
3. (phonology) A unit of syllable weight used in phonology, by which stress, foot structure, or timing of utterance is determined in some languages (e.g. Japanese).

Derived terms

• bimoraic
• monomoraic
• moraic
• moraically
• nonmoraic

New Latin from a botanical name, perhaps from Tupi.

Noun

1. (botany) Any tree of the genus Mora of large South American trees.
• 1904, W.H. Hudson, Green Mansions, A Romance of the Tropical ForestAt length, somewhere about the centre of the wood, she led me to an immense mora tree, growing almost isolated, covering with its shade a large space of ground entirely free from undergrowth.

Noun

1. Any fish of the genus Mora
1. The common mora

Synonyms

• (common mora) ribaldo, US, NZ

Noun

1. Alternative form of morra (finger-counting game)

Anagrams

• Amor, moar, Omar, roam, Roma