mortar
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mortar
- /ˈmɔːtə/ Northern England, UK, Wales
- /ˈmoːtə/ Australia, British, New Zealand
- /ˈmoɹtɚ/ Canada, US
- /ˈmɔɾtəɾ/ Scotland
- /ˈmɔːtə/
- /ˈmɒtə/ Eastern New England
- /ˈmɔɹtɚ/
Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)tə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English morter, from Old French mortier, from Latin mortārium. Doublet of mortarium.
noun mortars · morter
- A mixture of lime or cement, sand and water used for bonding building blocks. The holy hearth! If any earthly and material thing, or rather a divine idea embodied in brick and mortar, might be supposed to possess the permanence of moral truth, it was this.
-
A hollow vessel used to pound, crush, rub, grind or mix ingredients with a pestle.
Similar: mortar and pestle, pestle and mortar
- A short, heavy, large-bore cannon designed for indirect fire at very steep trajectories.
- A relatively lightweight, often portable indirect fire weapon which transmits recoil to a base plate and is designed to lob explosive shells at very steep trajectories.
- In paper milling, a trough in which material is hammered.
verb mortars · mortaring · mortared · morter
- To use mortar or plaster to join two things together.
- To pound in a mortar.
- To fire a mortar (weapon).
- To attack (someone or something) using a mortar (weapon). The insurgents snuck up close and mortared the base last night.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: trench mortar, howitzer, cement, grout, grenade, shrapnel, artillery, shelling, rocket, balance, incoming, shell, plaster, stucco, mastic, binder
Translations
Every language
noun mixture of lime or cement, sand and water
| Español | mortero, argamasa |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 모르타르 moreutareu |
| 日本語 | モルタル morutaru |
| 中文 | 灰泥 huīní, 砂漿 /砂浆 shājiāng |
| हिन्दी | मसाला masālā |
| Português | argamassa, massa, reboco |
| Français | mortier |
| Deutsch | Mörtel, Mauermörtel |
| Italiano | malta |
| Ελληνικά | κονίαμα koníama |
| Română | mortar |
| Русский | раство́р rastvór |
| Tiếng Việt | vữa |
| العربية | مِلَاط milāṭ |
| עברית | מֶלֶט melet |
noun vessel used to grind ingredients
| Español | mortero, almirez, pilón, molcajete |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 방아확 bang'ahwak, 절구 jeolgu, 유발 yubal |
| 日本語 | すり鉢 suribachi, 擂り鉢 suribachi, 臼 usu, 乳鉢 nyūbachi |
| 中文 | 研缽 /研钵 yánbō, 臼 jiù |
| हिन्दी | ओखली okhlī |
| Kiswahili | kinu |
| Português | almofariz, morteiro, gral, pilão |
| Français | mortier |
| Deutsch | Mörser |
| Italiano | mortaio |
| Ελληνικά | γουδί goudí |
| Română | piuliță, piuă, mojar |
| Русский | сту́па stúpa, сту́пка stúpka |
| Tiếng Việt | cối |
| العربية | مِهْرَاس mihrās, هَاوُن hāwun, جُرْن jurn, نِجْر nijr |
| עברית | מכתש makhtesh |
Talk about this word "mortar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mortar. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mortar. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mortar "mortar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mortar.Cite this
@misc{mortar_2026,
title = {mortar},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mortar},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
