“North African, Berber, one of the race dwelling in Barbary,” late 14c., from Old French More, from Medieval Latin Morus, from Latin Maurus “inhabitant of Mauretania” (Roman northwest Africa, a region now corresponding to northern Algeria and Morocco), from Greek Mauros, perhaps a native name, or else cognate with mauros “black” (but this adjective only appears in late Greek and may as well be from the people’s name as the reverse).
Also applied to the Arabic conquerors of Spain. Being a dark people in relation to Europeans, their name in the Middle Ages was a synonym for “Negro;” later (16c.-17c.); being the nearest Muslims to Western Europe, it was used indiscriminately of Muslims (Persians, Arabs, etc.) but especially those in India. Cognate with Dutch Moor, German Mohr, Danish Maurer, Spanish Moro, Italian Moro. Related: Mooress.
cognate (adj.)
1640s, “allied by blood, connected or related by birth, of the same parentage, descended from a common ancestor,” from Latin cognatus “of common descent” (source also of Spanish cognado, Italian cognato), from assimilated form of com “together” (see co-) + gnatus, past participle of gnasci, older form of nasci “to be born” (from PIE root *gene- “give birth, beget”).
Of things, “related in origin, traceable to the same source,” by 1640s; specifically of words, “coming from the same root or original word but showing differences due to subsequent separate phonetic development,” by 1782; of languages, “from the same original language,” by 1799. French, Spanish, and Italian are cognate languages (all essentially descended from Latin) but are not cognate with Latin. English cognate, Spanish cognado and Italian cognato are cognate words from Latin cognatus. English brother, Sanskrit bhrtr-, Greek phratr, Latin frater, Russian brat are cognate words from the PIE root *bhrater. Words that are cognates are more like cousins than siblings; they develop in different languages.
Related: Cognatic; cognation (late 14c. in English as “blood-relationship, kinship”); cognateness. As a noun, “one connected to another by ties of kinship,” from 1754.
Ottoman Empire
Portuguese Empire
Songhair Empire
Mali Empire
