mora — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A delay in bringing a claim.

2. A unit used to measure lines and stanzas of poetry.

   Examples

   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.

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).

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   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.

Noun

1. Any tree of the genus Mora of large South American trees.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   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.

Noun

1. The common mora (Mora moro).

Noun

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

   Usage

   • Historical