English

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Etymology

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From Dutch moeras (marsh, swamp), from Middle Dutch marasch (marsh), from Old French mareis, from Proto-West Germanic *marisk. Doublet of marish and marsh.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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morass (plural morasses)

  1. A tract of soft, wet ground; a marsh; a fen.
    • 1853, John Ruskin, “Torcello”, in The Stones of Venice, volume II (The Sea-Stories), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., [], →OCLC, § I, page 11:
      Seven miles to the north of Venice, the banks of sand, which near the city rise little above low-water mark, attain by degrees a higher level, and knit themselves at last into fields of salt morass, raised here and there into shapeless mounds, and intercepted by narrow creeks of sea.
  2. (figurative) Anything that entraps or makes progress difficult.

Derived terms

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Translations

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