Etymograph

English

morose

Morose comes from French morose ‘sullen, gloomy, morose’, from Latin mōrōsus ‘particular, scrupulous, fastidious,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *mōs.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mōsreconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōs‘way, custom, habit, self-will’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōrōsus‘particular, scrupulous, fastidious, self-willed, wayward, capricious, fretful, peevish’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentmorose‘sullen, gloomy, morose’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1857same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mōsreconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōs‘way, custom, habit, self-will’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōrōsus‘particular, scrupulous, fastidious, self-willed, wayward, capricious, fretful, peevish’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentmorose‘sullen, gloomy, morose’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1857same form

Earliest quotation: 1857, R. M. Ballantyne: “If there is any boy or man who loves…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *mōs

morality, morale, demoralize, 3 more

through Latin mōs ‘way, custom, habit, self-will’

moral, mores, 6 more

Today it means

adj Sullen, gloomy; showing a brooding ill humour.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *mōs / morose

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