"Mordor" meaning in English

See Mordor in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

IPA: /ˈmɔːdɔː(ɹ)/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈmɔɹdɔɹ/ [General-American], /ˈmoːdoː(ɹ)/ [Australia, New-Zealand]
Etymology: From Mordor, a bleak realm ruled by the dark lord Sauron, in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth. Tolkien created the name in his constructed language Sindarin, from morn (“dark, black”) and dôr (“land”). Compare with Old English morþor (“murder”), murder, Greek μαυρός (mavrós, “dim”) and Latin mors (“death”). Sense 2 is a semantic loan from Ukrainian Мо́рдор (Mórdor) or Russian Мо́рдор (Mórdor), both of those from the English word, alluding to it being the land of orcs. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|sjn|-}} Sindarin, {{cog|ang|morþor||murder}} Old English morþor (“murder”), {{cog|el|μαυρός||dim}} Greek μαυρός (mavrós, “dim”), {{cog|la|mors||death}} Latin mors (“death”), {{semantic loan|en|uk|Мо́рдор|senseid=Russia}} Sense 2 is a semantic loan from Ukrainian Мо́рдор (Mórdor), {{sl|en|ru|Мо́рдор|notext=1}} Russian Мо́рдор (Mórdor) Head templates: {{en-proper noun}} Mordor
  1. An area of peril, darkness, or evil, which people fear to visit or explore. Categories (topical): Fictional locations, J. R. R. Tolkien Categories (place): Country nicknames Synonyms: wasteland, hellscape
    Sense id: en-Mordor-en-name-G~BJzM9B Disambiguation of Fictional locations: 100 0 Disambiguation of J. R. R. Tolkien: 87 13 Disambiguation of Country nicknames: 79 21 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 100 0
  2. (politics, slang, derogatory) Russia. Tags: derogatory, slang Categories (topical): Politics Categories (place): Russia
    Sense id: en-Mordor-en-name-en:Russia Disambiguation of Russia: 2 98 Topics: government, politics
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          "text": "It is a “Mordor” sort of anthropology, dark rather than light, swampland rather than solid ground.",
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        {
          "ref": "2007, B. Erin Wylde, Where Did I Go?, →ISBN, page 100:",
          "text": "Nevertheless, this book is about the truth, the good and the bad, so I will tread into the forbidden territory, the Mordor of motherhood.",
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        {
          "ref": "2012, Zygmunt Miłoszewski, A Grain of Truth: A Second Case for State Prosecutor Teodor Szacki, Bitter Lemon Press (2012; original Polish book published 2011), page 290",
          "text": "“OK, can we go back now?” asked their guide and expert on the underground, whose restless eyes implied that he was on the edge of panic. “I for one am not venturing a step further into this Mordor.”"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 November 16, Jo Ellison, “Help: the gym has turned us into slobs”, in Financial Times:",
          "text": "It’s impossible to find harmony in an outfit when you have to schlep five kilos of kit with you in order to manage the post-workout transformation. Of course, I could change at work. But this would entail using the office showers. And I would sooner venture into Mordor.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2022 April 17, Pjotr Sauer, Andrew Roth, quoting Antonina Baever, “Empty galleries and fleeing artists: Russia’s cultural uncoupling from the west”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "“I fled from Moscow, which has turned into Mordor.[…]”",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2024 February 25, Helen Russell, “Play outside and sing together: what living in Denmark taught me about raising ‘Viking’ children”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "They are out in nature for hours a day – despite the fact that the weather’s terrible (we’re talking Mordor from October to March).",
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          "word": "hellscape"
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          "text": "It is a “Mordor” sort of anthropology, dark rather than light, swampland rather than solid ground.",
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        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, B. Erin Wylde, Where Did I Go?, →ISBN, page 100:",
          "text": "Nevertheless, this book is about the truth, the good and the bad, so I will tread into the forbidden territory, the Mordor of motherhood.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2012, Zygmunt Miłoszewski, A Grain of Truth: A Second Case for State Prosecutor Teodor Szacki, Bitter Lemon Press (2012; original Polish book published 2011), page 290",
          "text": "“OK, can we go back now?” asked their guide and expert on the underground, whose restless eyes implied that he was on the edge of panic. “I for one am not venturing a step further into this Mordor.”"
        },
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          "ref": "2017 November 16, Jo Ellison, “Help: the gym has turned us into slobs”, in Financial Times:",
          "text": "It’s impossible to find harmony in an outfit when you have to schlep five kilos of kit with you in order to manage the post-workout transformation. Of course, I could change at work. But this would entail using the office showers. And I would sooner venture into Mordor.",
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          "text": "“I fled from Moscow, which has turned into Mordor.[…]”",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2024 February 25, Helen Russell, “Play outside and sing together: what living in Denmark taught me about raising ‘Viking’ children”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "They are out in nature for hours a day – despite the fact that the weather’s terrible (we’re talking Mordor from October to March).",
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}

Download raw JSONL data for Mordor meaning in English (5.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (95d2be1 and 64224ec). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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