"morena" meaning in English

See morena in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /mɔˈɹenə/ [General-South-African], /məˈɹenə/ [General-South-African], /məˈɹeɪnə/ [UK] Forms: morenas [plural], marena [plural]
Etymology: Etymology tree Sotho morenabor. Northern Sotho morenabor. Tswana morenabor. English morena Borrowed from Sotho morena, Northern Sotho morena, Tswana morena, from mo- (personal class prefix) + rena (“to be rich, to be a leader”). Etymology templates: {{etymon|en|:bor|st:morena|nso:morena|tn:morena|tree=1}} Etymology tree Sotho morenabor. Northern Sotho morenabor. Tswana morenabor. English morena [Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from", "terms" : [ { "children" : [ ], "lang_name" : "Sotho", "term" : "morena", "status" : "missing", "lang" : "st" }, { "children" : [ ], "lang_name" : "Northern Sotho", "term" : "morena", "status" : "missing", "lang" : "nso" }, { "children" : [ ], "lang_name" : "Tswana", "term" : "morena", "status" : "missing", "lang" : "tn" } ], "keyword" : "bor" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "morena", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }" data-lang="en" data-title="morena">, {{bor|en|st|morena}} Sotho morena, {{der|en|nso|morena}} Northern Sotho morena, {{der|en|tn|morena}} Tswana morena Head templates: {{en-noun|s|marena}} morena (plural morenas or marena)
  1. (South Africa, chiefly as a form of address) Someone in authority, a master or leader, especially among Sotho-speakers. Tags: South-Africa

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "st:morena",
        "4": "nso:morena",
        "5": "tn:morena",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nSotho morenabor.\nNorthern Sotho morenabor.\nTswana morenabor.\nEnglish morena\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Sotho\", \"term\" : \"morena\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"st\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Northern Sotho\", \"term\" : \"morena\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"nso\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Tswana\", \"term\" : \"morena\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"tn\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"morena\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"morena\">",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "st",
        "3": "morena"
      },
      "expansion": "Sotho morena",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nso",
        "3": "morena"
      },
      "expansion": "Northern Sotho morena",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tn",
        "3": "morena"
      },
      "expansion": "Tswana morena",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nSotho morenabor.\nNorthern Sotho morenabor.\nTswana morenabor.\nEnglish morena\nBorrowed from Sotho morena, Northern Sotho morena, Tswana morena, from mo- (personal class prefix) + rena (“to be rich, to be a leader”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "morenas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "marena",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "marena"
      },
      "expansion": "morena (plural morenas or marena)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "attestations": [
        {
          "date": "from 19th c.",
          "references": []
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries referencing missing etymons",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages using etymon with no ID",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 12 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "South African English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              1,
              7
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage, published 1998, page 93:",
          "text": "‘Morena,’ said the old priest, ‘don't be angry with the boy.’",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone in authority, a master or leader, especially among Sotho-speakers."
      ],
      "id": "en-morena-en-noun-LsrDzOeD",
      "links": [
        [
          "authority",
          "authority"
        ],
        [
          "master",
          "master"
        ],
        [
          "leader",
          "leader"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(South Africa, chiefly as a form of address) Someone in authority, a master or leader, especially among Sotho-speakers."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "as a form of address"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "South-Africa"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/mɔˈɹenə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-South-African"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɹenə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-South-African"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɹeɪnə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "morena"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "st:morena",
        "4": "nso:morena",
        "5": "tn:morena",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nSotho morenabor.\nNorthern Sotho morenabor.\nTswana morenabor.\nEnglish morena\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Sotho\", \"term\" : \"morena\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"st\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Northern Sotho\", \"term\" : \"morena\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"nso\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Tswana\", \"term\" : \"morena\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"tn\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"morena\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"morena\">",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "st",
        "3": "morena"
      },
      "expansion": "Sotho morena",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nso",
        "3": "morena"
      },
      "expansion": "Northern Sotho morena",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tn",
        "3": "morena"
      },
      "expansion": "Tswana morena",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nSotho morenabor.\nNorthern Sotho morenabor.\nTswana morenabor.\nEnglish morena\nBorrowed from Sotho morena, Northern Sotho morena, Tswana morena, from mo- (personal class prefix) + rena (“to be rich, to be a leader”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "morenas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "marena",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "marena"
      },
      "expansion": "morena (plural morenas or marena)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "attestations": [
        {
          "date": "from 19th c.",
          "references": []
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries referencing missing etymons",
        "English entries with etymology trees",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English nouns with irregular plurals",
        "English terms borrowed from Northern Sotho",
        "English terms borrowed from Sotho",
        "English terms borrowed from Tswana",
        "English terms derived from Northern Sotho",
        "English terms derived from Sotho",
        "English terms derived from Tswana",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages using etymon with no ID",
        "Pages with 12 entries",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Pages with etymology trees",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "South African English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              1,
              7
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage, published 1998, page 93:",
          "text": "‘Morena,’ said the old priest, ‘don't be angry with the boy.’",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone in authority, a master or leader, especially among Sotho-speakers."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "authority",
          "authority"
        ],
        [
          "master",
          "master"
        ],
        [
          "leader",
          "leader"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(South Africa, chiefly as a form of address) Someone in authority, a master or leader, especially among Sotho-speakers."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "as a form of address"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "South-Africa"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/mɔˈɹenə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-South-African"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɹenə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-South-African"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈɹeɪnə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "morena"
}

Download raw JSONL data for morena meaning in English (3.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-06-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-06-01 using wiktextract (ade7ec3 and 7f4db16). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.