Moor
MOOR, (i) A heath, an unenclosed stretch of waste or uncultivated land, covered with heather; also such a heath preserved for game-shooting, particularly for the shooting of grouse. The O. Eng. mdr, bog, moor, is represented in other Teutonic languages; cf. Dan. mor, Ger. Moor, O. Du. moer, etc.; from an O. Du. adjectival form moerasch comes Eng. morass, a bog. Probably mere, marsh, are not to be connected with these words. (2) The verb " to moor," to fasten a ship or boat to the shore, to another vessel, or to an anchor or buoy, by cables, etc., is probably from the root seen in mod. Du. meren, which also gives the English nautical term " marline," small strands of rope used for lashings or seizings, and " marline-spike," a small iron tool for separating the strands of rope, etc.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
