morocco
/məˈɹɔkəʉ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.80 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A country in North Africa. Official name: Kingdom of Morocco. Capital: Rabat.
Example Sentences
- "Jonathan Hill, professor of international relations in the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, points to ongoing social unrest among rural youths in Morocco as another key reason why the law was passed. He cites the 2011 Arab Spring as an indicator of where such behaviour might lead if left unchecked."
- "The purple morocco cases accompanying the latter contained a handsome set of gold ornaments. Louisa was deeply gratified, even more on Charles's account than on her own; it was such injustice on the part of her family to treat him with such insolence as Lady Anne and Lady Rotheles displayed."
- "Piers put the letter in an envelope and slipped it into a green morocco-covered volume on the window seat – his sister's diary."
Etymology
Earlier spelling Marocco, from Portuguese Marrocos and/or Spanish Marruecos, from Arabic مُرَّاكُش (murrākuš), further etymology uncertain. The word originally referred to the capital city of Marrakech (founded late 11th c.), but came to be used as a pars pro toto for the westernmost region of the Islamic world. Compare older Arabic مُرَّاكُش (murrākuš) (now اَلْمَغْرِب (al-maḡrib)), Persian مراکش (marâkeš), Medieval Latin Marrochium. Turkish refers to the country as Fas from Fez, another former capital. Doublet of Marrakech.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /məˈɹɔkəʉ/
- British English: /məˈɹɒkəʊ/