more - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (2024)

English[edit]

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more

Wikipedia

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English more, from Old English māra (“more”), from Proto-Germanic *maizô (“more”), from Proto-Indo-European *mē- (“many”).

Cognate with Scots mair (“more”), Saterland Frisian moor (“more”), West Frisian mear (“more”), Dutch meer (“more”), Low German mehr (“more”), German mehr (“more”), Danish mere (“more”), Swedish mera (“more”), Norwegian Bokmål mer (“more”), Norwegian Nynorsk meir (“more”), Icelandic meiri, meira (“more”).

Alternative forms[edit]

• (informal or nonstandard) mo, mo'
• (Internet slang) moar

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mô; IPA^(key): /mɔː/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: môr; IPA^(key): /mɔɹ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: mōr; IPA^(key): /mo(ː)ɹ/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /moə/
• (non-rhotic, dough-door merger, AAVE) IPA^(key): /moʊ/
• hom*ophones: moor, Moor, Moore (all three only in accents with the pour–poor merger)
• hom*ophone: maw (non-rhotic accents with the horse–hoarse merger (most of England, Australia, New Zealand, New York))
• hom*ophone: mow (non-rhotic accents with the dough-door merger (AAVE, non-rhotic Southern US))
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)

Determiner[edit]

more

1. comparative degree of many: in greater number. (Used for a discrete quantity.)

   There are more ways to do this than I can count.

   • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist‎^[1], volume 411, number 8891:

     One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

3. comparative degree of much: in greater quantity, amount, or proportion. (Used for a continuous quantity.)

   There's more caffeine in my coffee than in the coffee you get in most places.

   • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist‎^[2], volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:

     Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.

4. Additional; further.

   If you run out, there are more bandages in the first aid cupboard.

   More people are arriving.

   I want more soup.

   I need more time.

5. Bigger, stronger, or more valuable.

   He is more than the ten years he spent behind bars at our local prison, as he is a changed man and his past does not define him.

Antonyms[edit]

• fewer
• less

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Adverb[edit]

more

1. To a greater degree or extent. [from 10^thc.]

   I like cake, but I like chocolate more.

   I could no more climb that than fly!

   More advanced students.

   I have more than carried out my obligation.

   I have no complaints and no more does my mom.

   • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

     Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

     See Also

     Pronunciation: HD Slow Audio + Phonetic Transcriptionanswer - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
3. Used to form the comparative form of adjectives and adverbs. [from 13^thc.]

   You're more beautiful than I ever imagined.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.

   • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

     Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

4. (now poetic) In negative constructions: any further, any longer; any more. [from 10^thc.]

   • 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum ii”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XV, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur[…], London: David Nutt,[…], 1889, →OCLC:

     Than was there pees betwyxte thys erle and thys Aguaurs, and grete surete that the erle sholde never warre agaynste hym more.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

5. (now dialectal, humorous or proscribed) Used in addition to an inflected comparative form. [from 13^thc.; standard until 18^thc.]

   I was more better at English than you.

Derived terms[edit]

• more or less
• more so

Translations[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

more

1. A greater number or quantity (of something).

   We're running out of napkins. I should have bought more.

   There isn't enough salt in this. You need to add more.

2. An extra or additional quantity (of something).

   There aren't many people here yet, but more should be arriving soon.

   • 2016, Arun P. Mukherjee, “English Studies in Contemporary India”, in M. Sridhar, Sunita Mishra, editors, Language Policy and Education in India: Documents, Contexts and Debates, page 254:

     Speaking about Canada, where I teach, while the canon remains the raison d’etre of the discipline, some changes have come about and more are in the offing.

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from more (pronoun)

Adjective[edit]

more

1. comparative degree of many: in greater number. (Used for a discrete quantity.)

   Last year’s applications received from new and returning students were more than each of the previous four years.

2. comparative degree of much: in greater quantity, amount, or proportion. (Used for a continuous quantity.)

See also[edit]

• most

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English more, moore (“root”), from Old English more, moru (“carrot, parsnip”) from Proto-West Germanic *morhā, from Proto-Germanic *murhǭ (“carrot”), from Proto-Indo-European *merk- (“edible herb, tuber”).

Akin to Old Saxon moraha (“carrot”), Old High German morha, moraha (“root of a plant or tree”) (German Möhre (“carrot”), Morchel (“mushroom, morel”)). More at morel.

Alternative forms[edit]

• moor (dialectal)

Noun[edit]

more (plural mores)

2. (obsolete) A carrot; a parsnip.
3. (dialectal) A root; stock.
4. (dialectal) A plant; flower; shrub.

This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle English moren, from the noun. See above.

Verb[edit]

more (third-person singular simple present mores, present participle moring, simple past and past participle mored)

1. (transitive) To root up.

Etymology 4[edit]

Back-formation from mores.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔː.ɹe/

Noun[edit]

more (plural mores)

1. (nonstandard) singular of mores

   • 1996, Michael J. Bugeja, “[Influence] The Impact of Social Mores”, in Living Ethics: Developing Values in Mass Communication, Boston, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon, →ISBN, part I (Building Your Ethical Base), page 15:

     In the 1990s, smoking is considered dumb and a symbol of bad health habits, replete with the Surgeon General’s warnings. But even this belief is a social more, subject to time. Maybe some future society will consider smoking brave—a symbolic affront to Big Brother government—or cowardly—a cop-out to avoid some type of community service.

   • 2004, Robert S. Pomeroy, John E. Parks, Lani M. Watson, “[The MPA management effectiveness indicators] The socio-economic indicators”, in How Is Your MPA Doing? A Guidebook of Natural and Social Indicators for Evaluating Marine Protected Area Management Effectiveness (IUCN Programme on Protected Areas), Gland, Cambridge: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, →ISBN, page 122:

     A value is a social more or norm manifested as a result of history and culture. It is a shared understanding among people of what is good, desirable or just.

   • 2008, David R. Caruso, “Emotions and the Ability Model of Emotional Intelligence”, in Robert J. Emmerling, Vinod K. Shanwal, Manas K[umar] Mandal, editors, Emotional Intelligence: Theoretical and Cultural Perspectives, New York, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 7:

     Given that emotions such as shame, guilt, embarrassment and others involve a violation of a social more or rule, these are often called the social emotions, self-conscious emotions or secondary emotions.

   • 2008, Barak A. Salmoni, Paula Holmes-Eber, “[Dimension Five – Belief Systems] Some Features of Belief Systems”, in Operational Culture for the Warfighter: Principles and Applications, Quantico, Va.: Marine Corps University Press, →ISBN, part II (Five Operational Culture Dimensions for Planning and Execution), page 189:

     In a seeming paradox, however, broken taboos may not always carry the heavy repercussions of violations of a social more.

Anagrams[edit]

• Mero, Omer, Orem, Orme, Rome, erom, mero, mero-, moer, omer

Albanian[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

According to Orel from the aoristic form of marr without a clear sense development. It could also be a remnant of a grammatical structure of a lost substrate language, which may be the source of the same interjection found in all Balkan languages.^[1] Alternatively, from Greek μωρέ (moré, “mate”, interjection, literally “stupid!”), a frozen vocative of μωρός (mōrós). In that case, it may be a doublet of bre.

Interjection[edit]

more

1. man!, mate!, dude!, bro! (vocative particle used in a call to a man)

Usage notes[edit]

Can be placed before or after the noun, whereas bre can only be placed after.

Alternative forms[edit]

• mor, ore

Related terms[edit]

• moj

Descendants[edit]

• → Ottoman Turkish: موره (more)^[2]

Etymology 2[edit]

Probably borrowed from Southern Slavic море ("sea").

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): [ˈmo.re]

Adjective[edit]

more

1. dark blue^[3] Glossed as Polish szafirowe by Simon Kazanxhiu (ca. 1820).

Alternative forms[edit]

• morre

Synonyms[edit]

• e kaltër

References[edit]

Basque[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun[edit]

moreinan

1. purple

See also[edit]

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): [ˈmorɛ]

Noun[edit]

more

1. vocative singular of mor

Danish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Derived from moro (“fun”), which may be a compound of mod, from Old Norse móðr (“mind”) and ro, from ró (“rest”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoːʌ/

Verb[edit]

more (imperative mor, infinitive at more, present tense morer, past tense morede, perfect tense har moret)

1. To amuse, entertain

Derived terms[edit]

• morskab c
• morsom
• morsomhed c

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin mora.

Pronunciation[edit]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun[edit]

morem or f (plural moren, diminutive moretjen)

1. The unit of length (short or long) in poetic metre

Anagrams[edit]

• moer, roem, Rome

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /mɔʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

• hom*ophones: mord, mords, mores, mors, mort, morts (general), maure, maures (one pronunciation)

Noun[edit]

moref (plural mores)

1. (phonology) mora

Adjective[edit]

more (plural mores)

1. (dated) Alternative spelling of maure

Related terms[edit]

• Morem

Further reading[edit]

• “more”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams[edit]

• orme, Rome

Friulian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Noun[edit]

moref (plural moris)

1. mulberry

Noun[edit]

moref (plural moris)

1. (phonology) mora

Galician[edit]

Verb[edit]

more

1. inflection of morar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔ.re/
• Rhymes: -ɔre
• Hyphenation: mò‧re

Noun[edit]

moref

1. plural of mora

Verb[edit]

more

1. (slang) third-person singular present indicative of morire

Synonyms[edit]

• muore

Anagrams[edit]

• -mero, Remo, Rome, ermo, mero, orme, remo, remò

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmoː.re/, [ˈmoːrɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmo.re/, [ˈmɔːre]

Noun[edit]

mōrem

1. ablative singular of mōs (“manner, custom”)

References[edit]

• "more", in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Latvian[edit]

Noun[edit]

moref (5 declension, masculine form: moris)

1. (archaic) black woman, blackamoor, black moor

Declension[edit]

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Maori[edit]

Noun[edit]

more

1. taproot

Synonyms[edit]

• tāmore

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Inherited from Old English māra, from Proto-West Germanic *maiʀō, from Proto-Germanic *maizô.

Alternative forms[edit]

• mare, moore

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔːr(ə)/

Determiner[edit]

more

1. more

   • 1470–1483 (date produced), Thom̃s Malleorre [i.e., Thomas Malory], “[The Tale of King Arthur]”, in Le Morte Darthur (British Library Additional Manuscript 59678), [England: s.n.], folio 35, recto, lines 10–11:

     Now is þ[er] ony ſeyde Marlyon that ye love more than a noþ[er]·

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants[edit]

• English: more
• Geordie English: mair
• Scots: mair
• Yola: mo', more

References[edit]

• “mōr(e, adj. (comparative).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2[edit]

Inherited from Old English more and moru (“carrot, parsnip”), from Proto-West Germanic *morhā, *morhu, from Proto-Germanic *murhǭ, *murhō.

Alternative forms[edit]

• moore, morre

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɒːr(ə)/, /ˈmɔːr(ə)/

Noun[edit]

more (plural mores or (early) moren)

1. root (of a plant)

   Synonym: rote

2. (rare) root, (of a hair, tooth, or tongue)
3. (figuratively, rare) source, root

Descendants[edit]

• English: more (dialectal)

References[edit]

• “mōr(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation[edit]

• Audio

  (file)

Verb[edit]

more (present tense morer, past tense mora or moret, past participle mora or moret)

1. amuse, entertain

Old English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-West Germanic *morhā, from Proto-Germanic *murhǭ (“carrot”). Cognate with Old Saxon moraha (“carrot”), Old High German moraha (German Möhre).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmo.re/

Noun[edit]

moref

1. carrot
2. parsnip

Declension[edit]

Related terms[edit]

• moru

Descendants[edit]

• Middle English: more, moore, morre
  • English: more (dialectal)
• → Welsh: moron

Portuguese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

more

1. inflection of morar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Serbo-Croatian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /môːre/
• Hyphenation: mo‧re

Etymology 1[edit]

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *moře, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *mári, from Proto-Indo-European *móri.

Noun[edit]

mȏren (Cyrillic spelling мо̑ре)

1. sea
2. (by extension, preceded by preposition na) seaside or shore (any area or place near the sea where the sea is seen as the defining feature)

   Čim dođe ljeto, idemo na more! ― Once the summer is here, we're gonna go to the seaside!

   Cijelo ljeto ću provesti na moru. ― I will spend the entire summer at the shore.

3. (figurative) a vast expanse or quantity of something, usually detrimental or unwelcome

   Ako se ne pozabavimo time sada, biti ćemo u moru nevolja!

   If we do not deal with that now, we will be in a sea of troubles!

Declension[edit]

Synonyms[edit]

• (Croatia, archaic) morje

Derived terms[edit]

• mòrskī

See also[edit]

• Category:sh:Seas
• океан

Etymology 2[edit]

From Greek μωρέ (moré). Possible doublet of bre.

Interjection[edit]

mȏre (Cyrillic spelling мо̑ре)

1. (Serbia) when spoken sharply, asserts that the speaker is stronger or older or more powerful than the addressee, sometimes expressing contempt or superiority
   • 1824, recorded by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Narodne srpske pjesme:

     »More, Marko, ne ori drumova!«/»More, Turci, ne gaz’te oranja!«

     »More, Marko, don’t plow up our roads!«/»More, Turks, don’t walk on my plowing!«

2. (Serbia) when not spoken sharply, functions as a term of endearment or generic intensifier, cf. bre

Usage notes[edit]

More is most often used in addressing a single male, more rarely when addressing groups of males, and more rarely still when addressing females.

Related terms[edit]

• bre

References[edit]

• Tomislav Maretić, editor (1911-1916), “mȍre 1”, in Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (in Serbo-Croatian), volume 7, Zagreb: JAZU, page4

Etymology 3[edit]

Interjection[edit]

more (Cyrillic spelling море)

1. (Croatia, Kajkavian, colloquial) Alternative form of može

Noun[edit]

more (Cyrillic spelling море)

1. inflection of mora:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Verb[edit]

more (Cyrillic spelling море)

1. third-person plural present of moriti

Slovak[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *moře.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɔre]

Noun[edit]

moren (genitive singular mora, nominative plural moria, genitive plural morí, declension pattern of srdce)

1. a body of salt water, sea
2. (colloquial) a huge amount, plenty (+genitive)

   máme more času ― we have plenty of time

Declension[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• “more”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Spanish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoɾe/ [ˈmo.ɾe]
• Rhymes: -oɾe
• Syllabification: mo‧re

Verb[edit]

more

1. inflection of morar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Welsh[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• (North Wales) (standard) (colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔrɛ/
  • (North Wales) (colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔra/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈmoːrɛ/, /ˈmɔrɛ/

Noun[edit]

more

1. Nasal mutation of bore (“morning”).

Mutation[edit]

Yola[edit]

Adjective[edit]

more

1. Alternative form of mo'

   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 8, page 86:

     More trolleen, an yalpeen, an moulteen away.

     More rolling and spewing, and pining away.

References[edit]

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page86