Moorish
adjective
of or relating to the Moors, a Muslim people of NW Africa.
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Moorish
American
[moor-ish]
/ ˈmʊər ɪʃ /
adjective
-
of or relating to the Moors, a Muslim people of NW Africa.
-
in the style of the Moors, as architecture or decoration.
moorish
British
/ ˈmʊərɪʃ, ˈmɔː- /
adjective
-
of or relating to the Moors
-
denoting the style of architecture used in Spain from the 13th to 16th century, characterized by the horseshoe arch
Etymology
Origin of Moorish
First recorded in 1400–50, Moorish is from the late Middle English word morys. See Moor, -ish 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The home, she said, is more than 200 years old and built by her Spanish forefathers, with a tiled courtyard in the center and Moorish accents on the masonry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
She was raised by her mother, the singer Lisa Moorish.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
The tool reached Europe through the Moorish conquest of much of Spain.
From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
Drought-stricken farmers in Spain have reclaimed medieval Moorish irrigation technology.
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2024
In the distant land the boy came from, they called it the levanter, because they believed that it brought with it the sands of the desert, and the screams of the Moorish wars.
From "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
The moorish, sort of gothic feeling that you get when you go there—I think that’s part of it.
From Slate ● May 18, 2016
If one place of it be moorish, miry, and unpleasant, another makes a free tender of delight, and presents itself to the eye full of beauty and contentive variety.”
From A Month in Yorkshire by Walter White
O music of all moods and climes, Vengeful, forgiving, sensuous, saintly, 55Where still, between the Christian chimes, The moorish cymbal tinkles faintly!
From The Vision of Sir Launfal And Other Poems by James Russell Lowell; With a Biographical Sketch and Notes, a Portrait and Other Illustrations by James Russell Lowell
But the very thought of imitating any one, especially of imitating any French writer, was repulsive to Emily, "rustic all through, moorish, wild and knotty as a root of heath."
From Emily Brontë by A. Mary F. (Agnes Mary Frances) Robinson
They were also asked, how the women were kept; if they were locked up as the moorish women, or allowed to go freely abroad.
From Lander's Travels The Travels of Richard Lander into the Interior of Africa by Robert Huish
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