morrhua

[Mod. Lat. morrhua, Low Lat. moruta; Fr. morue. Said by Belon and Littré to be from melwel, melwal, an English word of the twelfth century=a stock-fish, a cod. Not in Stratmann's Dictionary.] Ichthy.: A genus of Fishes, family Gadide. Mor rhua æglefinus is the Haddock (q. v.), and M. vul garis is the Common Cod. They are more frequently called Gadus æglefinus and G. morrhua . [GADUS.] *morrhua-oil, s. Cod-liver oil (q. v.). ( Cal cutta Exhib . Rep ., v. 186.) mor-riçe, s. [MORRIS.] *mor-riç-er, s. [Eng. morric (e); -er.] A morris dancer. "There morricers , with bell at heel, And blade in hand, their mazes wheel." Scott: Lady of the Lake, v. 22. *mor-rim-al, a. [MORMAL.] *mor-ris (1), *mor-riçe, s. [Spelled morris he dance by Holland and his contemporaries, as having been introduced into England from the Morriscoes, or Moors of Spain; Sp. morisco =Moor ish.] (MORISCO.] 1. A dance borrowed or imitated from the Moors, usually performed by a single person, with castanets or rattles in the hands; a morisco. 2. A rustic dance performed in spring and summer time. There are many records extant to prove the universal popularity of this dance, both in the parish accounts of several dates and in the writings of poets of various periods. Douce, in his illustrations to Shakespeare, supposes that the morris dance derives its name from the Moors, among whom it originated, and that it is the same that gave rise to the fandango. "As a pancake for Shrove-Tuesday, a morris for Mayday."-Shakesp.: All's Well that Ends Well , ii. 2. 3. The same as Nine men's morris []. * Nine men's morris , Nine men's merils : A kind of game in which a figure of squares, one within the other, was made on the ground by cutting out the turf, and two persons took nine stones, which they placed by turns in the angles and then moved alternately, as in checkers. The player who succeeded in placing three of his stones, or men, in a straight line, removed any of his adversary's from any point he pleased, and the game ended by one of the players losing all his men. It was also played on a table with counters. "The nine men's morris is filled up with mud." Shakesp.: Midsummer Night's Dream , ii. 1. * morris-dance, * morrice-dance, * morrisdaunce, s. [MORRIS (1), 2.] * morris-dancer, * morrice-dancer, s. who dances a morris-dance. "[The] merry morrice - dancers come." One Scott : Lady of the Lake , v. 20. morris-pike, s . (properly Moorish - pike ). A simple weapon borrowed from the Moors, carried by infantry, and consisting of a spear-head at the sum mit of a pole. lit. the fashioner or former, from Gr. morphe Darwin defined it as law of form or morris mor-ris (2), 8. [ANGLESEY MORRIS.] *mor'-ris, *mor'-riçe, v. t. & i. [MORRIS. 8.] A. Trans.: To dance. B. In trans.: To decamp, to make off.