Morley

American  

[mawr-lee] / ˈmɔr li /

noun

1. Christopher Darlington, 1890–1957, U.S. writer.

2. Edward Williams, 1838–1923, U.S. chemist and physicist.

3. John, Viscount Morley of Blackburn, 1838–1923, English statesman, journalist, biographer, and critic.

4. Thomas, 1557–1603?, English composer, especially of madrigals.

5. a male given name.

---

Morley ¹ British  

/ ˈmɔːlɪ /

noun

1. an industrial town in N England, in Leeds unitary authority, West Yorkshire. Pop: 54 051 (2001)

---

Morley ² British  

/ ˈmɔːlɪ /

noun

1. Edward Williams. 1838–1923, US chemist who collaborated with A. A. Michelson in the Michelson-Morley experiment

2. John, Viscount Morley of Blackburn. 1838–1923, British Liberal statesman and writer; secretary of state for India (1905–10)

3. Robert. 1908–92, British actor. His many films include Major Barbara (1940), Oscar Wilde (1960), and The Blue Bird (1976)

4. Thomas. ?1557–?1603, English composer and organist, noted for his madrigals and his textbook on music, A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke (1597)

---

Morley Scientific  

/ môr′lē /

1. American chemist and physicist who with Albert Michelson disproved the existence of ether, the hypothetical medium of electromagnetic waves. Their work served as the starting point for Albert Einstein's development of the theory of relativity.

---

Example Sentences

About 43% of cohabitants agree that property acquired during a relationship should be shared in a breakup, according to research by John Morley, a professor at Yale Law School.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Morley, who filed a friend of the court brief in this case for neither party, argues that, in the modern day, no one reads the Presidential Election Day act literally.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026

“Practically, it is very difficult for any navy to escort ships through that narrow strait,” said Ellis Morley, specialist in cargo and commodities at Howden, an insurance broker.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

American physicists Albert Michelson and Edward Morley attempted to detect Earth's motion through space by comparing how fast light traveled along different directions.

From Science Daily • Jan. 8, 2026

In 1887 the American physicists Albert Michelson and Edward Morley tried to measure this effect.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife