Definition of "Moor"

Moor¹

/mɔː/

noun
plural Moors
1. (historical) A member of an ancient Berber people from Mauretania.
2. (historical) A member of an Islamic people of Arab or Berber origin ruling Spain and parts of North Africa from the 8th to the 15th centuries.
  Quotations
  [King of] Moro[cco]. Ye Moores and valiant men of Barbary,How can ye ſuffer theſe indignities?
  c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, Act III, scene iii
3. (archaic) A Muslim or a person from the Middle East or Africa.
4. (dated) A person of mixed Arab and Berber ancestry inhabiting the Mediterranean coastline of northwest Africa.
5. A person of an ethnic group speaking the Hassaniya language, mainly inhabiting Western Sahara, Mauritania, and parts of neighbouring countries (Morocco, Mali, Senegal etc.).

Moor²

/mɔː/

proper noun
plural Moors
1. A surname.
  1. A surname from Irish.
  2. An English surname transferred from the given name.