moorish

comparative more moorish · superlative most moorish

1. archaicOf ground, soil etc: boggy, marshy.First known use 15th c.

   Make heauen to frowne and euery fixed ſtarre To ſucke vp poiſon from the Mooriſh Fens, And poure it in this glorious Tyrants throat.

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act IIII, scene ii

   1 more example

   [G]low-worms, fire-drakes, meteors, ignis fatuus […] with many such that appear in moorish grounds, about churchyards, moist valleys, or where battles have been fought […].

   1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 3, member 3

2. Resembling or characteristic of a moor; abounding in moorland.First known use 16th c.

   The Lent term had pulled me down, a week of modest enjoyment thereafter in town had finished the work; and I drank in the sharp moorish air like a thirsty man who has been forwandered among deserts.

   1899, John Buchan, No Man's Land

   1 more example

   He recommended to me to plant a considerable part of a large moorish farm which I had purchased, and he made several calculations of the expence and profit: for he delighted in exercising his mind on the science of numbers.

   1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 880

comparative more Moorish · superlative most Moorish

1. Of or pertaining to the Moors or their culture.

   I joy to see you wear around your neck the holy relic I bestowed on you; — but what Moorish charmlet is that you wear beside it?

   1829 May 2, [Walter Scott], Anne of Geierstein; or, The Maiden of the Mist. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Cadell and Co., […]; London: Simpkin and Marshall, […], →OCLC

2. architectureOf or pertaining to a style of Spanish and Portuguese architecture from the time of the Moors, characterized by the horseshoe arch and ornate, geometric decoration.

   Mar-a-Lago was quiet three days before Thanksgiving. Donald Trump’s Moorish palace seemed all but deserted late that morning, the seaside estate’s cavernous living room traversed intermittently by a junior staffer or silent aide.

   2024 December 12, Eric Cortellessa, “Donald Trump 2024 TIME Person of the Year”, in Time, archived from the original on 22 Dec 2024