morse
English
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /mɔːs/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːs
Etymology 1
From Middle French mors, from Latin morsus (“bite; clasp”), from mordere (“to bite”).
Noun
morse (plural morses)
- A clasp or fastening used to fasten a cope in the front, usually decorative. [from 15th c.]
- 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter XI, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC:
- The morse bore a seraph's head in gold-thread raised work.
Etymology 2
Uncertain. Compare Russian морж (morž, “walrus”), Sami morša, Finnish mursu (all attested later).
Noun
morse (plural morses)
- (now rare) A walrus. [from 15th c.]
- 1829, [Robert Pearse Gillies], “The Voyage. (Continued.)”, in Tales of a Voyager to the Arctic Ocean. […] (Second Series), volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 66:
- The morse is said to roar or bellow loudly, but the animal we slew made no outcry, [...]
- 1880, Clements R Markham, editor, The Voyages of William Baffin, 1612-1622, published 1881:
- Then we passed through a great deale of small ice, and sawe, upon some peices, two morses, and upon some, one; and also diuers seales, layeing upon peices of ice.
Dutch
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mɔʁs/
Audio (Paris) (file)
Etymology 1
From Russian морж (morž), from Northern Sami.
Further reading
- “morse”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
Italian
Latin
Norwegian Bokmål
Synonyms
Derived terms
Verb
morse (imperative mors, present tense morser, simple past and past participle morsa or morset)
- (sende morse) to transmit Morse code
Etymology 2
From mors (“corpse”).
Verb
morse (imperative mors, present tense morser, simple past and past participle morsa or morset)
- to die
Usage notes
Using morse to signify die instead of the more common dø is a special usage found among health workers. The use of the term in this way is unknown in the general population.
References
- “morse” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Alternative forms
- morsa (a infinitive)
Etymology
From English Morse, named after Samuel Morse (1791–1872).
Derived terms
- morsealfabet
- morsekode
Verb
morse (present tense morsar, past tense morsa, past participle morsa, passive infinitive morsast, present participle morsande, imperative morse/mors)
- to transmit Morse code
References
- “morse” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Romanian
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Swedish morghons. From morgon + -s (“adverbial suffix”). Compare the development of afse (from afton).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /²mɔrse/
Usage notes
- Only found in the expression i morse (“the morning of today”), and related expressions, e.g. i går morse (”yesterday morning”), i måndags morse (”last Monday morning”).