morocco
/məˈɹɒkəʊ/ noun, proper noun
Forms moroccos
- noun A soft leather, made from goatskin, used especially in bookbinding.
- noun A sheepskin leather in imitation of this.
- noun A very strong ale, anciently brewed in Cumberland.
- proper noun A country in North Africa. Official name: Kingdom of Morocco. Capital: Rabat.
- proper noun A surname from Italian.
Synonyms
maroquin morocco leather Kingdom of Morocco Maroc Marruecos Al-Magrib
Etymology
From the country name of Morocco, from which this leather was originally imported. Compare maroquin.
Earlier spelling Marocco, from Portuguese Marrocos and/or Spanish Marruecos, from Arabic مُرَّاكُش (murrākuš), further etymology uncertain. The word originally referred to the capital city of Marrakech (founded late 11th c.), but came to be used as a pars pro toto for the westernmost region of the Islamic world. Compare older Arabic مُرَّاكُش (murrākuš) (now اَلْمَغْرِب (al-maḡrib)), Persian مراکش (marâkeš), Medieval Latin Marrochium. Turkish refers to the country as Fas from Fez, another former capital. Doublet of Marrakech.
Probably a surname of Italian origin.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A fine kind of leather, prepared commonly from goatskin (though an inferior kind is made of sheepskin), and tanned with sumac and dyed of various colors; --said to have been first made by the Moors.
Etymology [Named from Morocco, the country. Cf. Morris the dance.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “morocco”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details