mormo

See also: Mormo

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Μορμώ (Mormṓ, “a hideous she-monster, a bugbear”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔː(ɹ)məʊ/

Noun

mormo (plural mormos)

1. (obsolete) A bugbear; false terror.
   • 1678, Ralph Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe:

     Thus the Atheists, who derive the origin of religion from fear, first put an affrighful vizard upon the Deity, and then conclude it to be but a mormo or bugbear, the creature of fear and fancy.

   • 1727, William Warburton, Critical and Philosophical Enquiry into the Causes of Miracles:

     the mormos and bugbears of a frighted rabble

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “mormo”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Galician

Alternative forms

• borme, bormo

Etymology

Attested since 1409. From Latin morbus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɔɾmʊ]

Noun

mormo m (plural mormos)

1. (veterinary medicine) glanders
2. (medicine) cold
3. (medicine) tiredness
4. (medicine) pus

   Synonyms: brume, pus

5. mucus; snot

   Synonym: moco

Related terms

• amormar
• mormeira
• mormaceira
• mormoeira
• mormoso

References

• “mormo” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “mormo” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “mormo” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “mormo” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.