morae

Noun (1)

mora (plural morae or moras)

1. (Scots law) A delay in bringing a claim.
2. A unit used to measure lines and stanzas of poetry.
   • 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.1918, Elcanon Isaacs, “The Metrical Basis of Hebrew Poetry”, in The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, volume 35, page 22
3. 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).
   • 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.2011, Senko K. Maynard, Learning Japanese for Real, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN, page 32

Noun (2)

mora (plural moras)

1. Any tree of the genus Mora of large South American trees.
   • 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.1904, W.H. Hudson, Green Mansions, A Romance of the Tropical Forest

Noun (3)

mora (plural moras)

1. The common mora (Mora moro).

   Synonyms:

   ribaldo, goodly-eyed cod, googly-eyed cod

Noun (4)

mora (plural morai)

1. (historical) An ancient Spartan military unit of about a sixth of the Spartan army, typically composed of hoplites.

See all 11 meanings of mora