morena

See also: Appendix:Variations of "morena"

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Sotho morena, Northern Sotho morena, Tswana morena, from mo- (personal class prefix) + rena (“to be rich, to be a leader”).

Pronunciation

• (General South African) IPA^(key): /mɔˈɹenə/, /məˈɹenə/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /məˈɹeɪnə/

Noun

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. [from 19th c.]
   • 1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage, published 1998, page 93:

     ‘Morena,’ said the old priest, ‘don't be angry with the boy.’

Anagrams

• Moeran, Armeno-, Morane, Mareno, enamor, oarmen, Ramone, Naorem, monera, moaner, menora, anomer, Anmore, marone, maenor

Catalan

Alternative forms

• (moraine): morrena

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [muˈɾe̞.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [moˈɾə.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [muˈɾɛ.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [moˈɾe.na]

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin muraena.

Noun

morena f (plural morenes)

1. a moray eel, especially the Mediterranean moray (Muraena helena)
2. (Valencia) mushroom of the genus Agaricus

Derived terms

• morena de vora groga
• morena gegant
• morena ondulada
• morena sangosa
• morena verda
• morenot

Etymology 2

Inherited from Vulgar Latin morena, from Latin haemorrhoidae, from Ancient Greek αἱμορροΐς (haimorrhoḯs). Doublet of hemorroide, a learned borrowing.

Noun

morena f (plural morenes)

1. haemorrhoid

   Synonym: hemorroide

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French moraine.

Noun

morena f (plural morenes)

1. (geomorphology) moraine

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

morena

1. feminine singular of morè
2. feminine singular of moreno

Further reading

• “morena”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “morena”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “morena” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish morena, feminine singular form of moreno.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: mo‧re‧na

Adjective

morena

1. feminine of moreno

Galician

Adjective

morena

1. feminine singular of moreno

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈrɛ.na/, /moˈre.na/
• Rhymes: -ɛna, -ena
• Hyphenation: mo‧rè‧na, mo‧ré‧na

Noun

morena f (plural morene)

1. (geology) moraine, glacial till, drift

Anagrams

• Merano, Romena, armeno, marone, nomare, nomerà, remano, romane, romena

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French moraine, from Italian morena, from Franco-Provençal mor, morre, from Vulgar Latin *murrum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔˈrɛ.na/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛna
• Syllabification: mo‧re‧na

Noun

morena f

1. (geology) moraine (accumulation of rocks and debris carried and deposited by a glacier)

Declension

Declension of morena

	singular	plural
nominative	morena	moreny
genitive	moreny	moren
dative	morenie	morenom
accusative	morenę	moreny
instrumental	moreną	morenami
locative	morenie	morenach
vocative	moreno	moreny

Further reading

• “morena”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “morena”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /moˈɾẽ.nɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /muˈɾe.nɐ/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French moraine.

Noun

morena f (plural morenas)

1. (geology) moraine, debris (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier)

   Synonym: moreia

Etymology 2

From moreno.

Noun

morena f (plural morenas)

1. brunette (a girl or woman with brown or black hair)
2. a tanned girl or woman

Adjective

morena

1. feminine singular of moreno

Further reading

• “morena”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “morena”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French moraine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /morěːna/
• Hyphenation: mo‧re‧na

Noun

moréna f (Cyrillic spelling море́на)

1. moraine

Declension

    Declension of morena

	singular	plural
nominative	morena	morene
genitive	morene	morena
dative	moreni	morenama
accusative	morenu	morene
vocative	moreno	morene
locative	moreni	morenama
instrumental	morenom	morenama

Etymology 2

Participle

morena (Cyrillic spelling морена)

1. inflection of moriti:
   1. feminine singular passive past participle
   2. neuter plural passive past participle

Sotho

Noun

morena class 1/6 (plural marena)

1. lord, chief, master, king

Descendants

• → Phuthi: murena

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈɾena/ [moˈɾe.na]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ena
• Syllabification: mo‧re‧na

Etymology 1

See moreno. Ultimately related to English Moor.

Noun

morena f (plural morenas)

1. female equivalent of moreno

Adjective

morena

1. feminine singular of moreno

Etymology 2

from Latin muraena (“sea eel, lamprey”), from Ancient Greek σμυραινα (smuraina), from σμυρος (smuros, “sea eel”).

Noun

morena f (plural morenas)

1. (zoology) moray

Further reading

• “morena”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Anagrams

• monera

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish morena.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /moˈɾena/ [moˈɾɛː.n̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -ena
• Syllabification: mo‧re‧na

Adjective

morena (masculine moreno, Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜇᜒᜈ)

1. tanned; brown-skinned (of a woman)

Noun

morena (masculine moreno, Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜇᜒᜈ)

1. tanned woman; brown-skinned woman
2. female Filipino beauty standard, typically described as a beautiful young woman with physical traits native or indigenous to the Philippines

Related terms

• moreno
• Moro

See also

• mestisa
• mestiso
• tsinita
• tsinito

Further reading

• “morena”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “morena”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Anagrams

• menora

Tswana

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mʊˈrɛna/

Noun

morêna class 1 (plural barena)

1. lord, chief, master King