mortar

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (2)  · 
“
I made wars, I devastated countries, I built palaces, and the mortar was the blood of men.

View all »
Definitions (26)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. noun A vessel in which substances are crushed or ground with a pestle.
  2. noun A machine in which materials are ground and blended or crushed.
  3. noun A portable, muzzleloading cannon used to fire shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high trajectories.
4 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (11)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (4)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • The lid is fastened with the same mortar which is used in the brick masonry surrounding the coffin, where such a receptacle has been made for it; but they more usually lie pell-mell, separated only by thin layers of loose sand. —  Chaldea From the Earliest Times to the Rise of Assyria
  • He brought the mortar, the trowel, and the smoothing board Now pick up your tools and follow me Grazian led Master Mathias through the opening of the altar frame, (the picture had been cast aside) into the secret passage-way; then to the heavy iron door, which when opened from outside set the church bells ringing. —  Pater Peter. English.
  • The floor was of rough planks filled in with mortar, and skins were laid down for carpet. —  A Little Girl in Old Quebec
  • "She's breaking up fast Once more the mortar was fired, Blake and Joe, as well as Mr. Hadley, getting films of every move There she goes!" —  The Moving Picture Boys on the Coast
  • In the story from Bergamo it is a gold pestle, and not a mortar, that is found, and the story of "_halb geritten_" is retained. —  Italian Popular Tales
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 93 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English morter, from Old English mortere and from Old French mortier, both from Latin mortārium; see mer- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. Formerly more properly morter, the spelling mortar being in modern imitation of the L.; from Middle English morter, from Anglo-Saxon mortere = Middle Low German mortēr, morter, Low German morter = Old High German mortāri, morsāri, Middle High German morsœre, morser, German mörser, Old High German also morsali, Middle High German morsel, German mörsel = Swedish mortel = Danish morter, a mortar (def. 1) = Old French mortier, a mortar, a kind of lamp, French mortier (later D. mortier) = Provencal mortier = Spanish mortero = Portuguese morteiro = Italian mortajo, a mortar (defs. 1 and 2), from Latin mortarium, a vessel in which substances are pounded with a pestle, hence a vessel in which mortar is made, mortar (see mortar); akin to marcus, diminutive marculus, martutns, a hammer, from √ mar, pound, grind: see mill, meal. Hence mortar.
  2. from mortar, n.
  3. Formerly more properly morter, the spelling mortar being in modern imitation of the L.; from Middle English morter, mortier, from Old French mortier, French mortier = Provencal mortier = Spanish mortero = Portuguese morteiro = Italian mortajo = Dutch mortel = Middle Low German morter, Middle High German mortere, morter, mortel, German mörtel, from Latin mortarium, mortar, a mixture of lime and sand, so called from the vessel in which it was made, a mortar: see mortar.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈmɔrtər/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a week.

Recently looked up

intent · disadvantages · swerved · ball-point · beseeching

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

a for 'orses · snarfillicate my snackrabbit · j for cakes · chic flick · rhodorhinorangifericide