mora
/ˈmɔːɹə/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.11 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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).
noun
The common mora (Mora moro).
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "Instead of syllables, Japanese is supported by mora. (Tokyo is To-o-kyo-o, a four-mora word.) The word Nihongo consists of four morae, ni-ho-n-go, pronounced with four rhythmical units of sound."
- "At 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."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mer-? Proto-Indo-European *merh₂- Proto-Indo-European *morh₂éh₂ Proto-Italic *morā Latin moralbor. English mora Learned borrowing from Latin mora (“duration of time, delay”).
Word Breakdown
- Root: -