morass

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A tract of soft, wet ground; a marsh; a fen.
  2. Anything that entraps or makes progress difficult.

Pronunciation

/məˈɹæs/ /moˈɹæs/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-morass.wav

Word forms

morass morasses

Etymology

From Dutch moeras (“marsh, swamp”), an alteration (with influence from Dutch moer (“moor”)) of a direct descendant of Middle Dutch marasch (“marsh”). The Middle Dutch word is a borrowing from Old French mareis, from Proto-West Germanic *marisk. Doublet of marish and marsh, and linked in part to moor. Compare quagmire.

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