mortar

Alternative forms

• morter (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English morter, from Old French mortier, from Latin mortārium. Doublet of mortarium.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔːtə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tə(ɹ)

Noun

mortar (countable and uncountable, plural mortars)

2. (uncountable) A mixture of lime or cement, sand and water used for bonding building blocks.
   • 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Fire Worship”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:

     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.

4. (countable) A hollow vessel used to pound, crush, rub, grind or mix ingredients with a pestle.

   Synonyms: mortar and pestle, pestle and mortar

5. (countable, military, historical) A short, heavy, large-bore cannon designed for indirect fire at very steep trajectories.
7. (countable, military) 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. [from 20th c.]
8. (countable) In paper milling, a trough in which material is hammered.

Verb

mortar (third-person singular simple present mortars, present participle mortaring, simple past and past participle mortared)

1. (transitive) To use mortar or plaster to join two things together.
2. (transitive) To pound in a mortar.
3. To fire a mortar (weapon).
4. To attack (someone or something) using a mortar (weapon).

   The insurgents snuck up close and mortared the base last night.

Related terms

• bricks and mortar

See also

• gun
• howitzer

Anagrams

• marrot

Etymology

Derived from morto +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔrˈtar/

Verb

mortar (present mortas, past mortis, future mortos, conditional mortus, imperative mortez)

1. (intransitive, literally and figuratively) to die, cease to live, depart this life
2. (intransitive) to go out (of fire, lights, etc.)
3. (intransitive) to come to an end (of movement)

Conjugation

More information present, past ...

Conjugation of mortar

		present		past		future
infinitive		mortar		mortir		mortor
tense		mortas		mortis		mortos
conditional		mortus		—		—
imperative		mortez		—		—
adjective active participle		mortanta		mortinta		mortonta
adverbial active participle		mortante		mortinte		mortonte
nominal active participle	singular	mortanto		mortinto		mortonto
	plural	mortanti		mortinti		mortonti

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Etymology

From English mortar, from Middle English morter, from Old French mortier, from Latin mortārium. Doublet of mortir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɔr.tar]
• Hyphenation: mor‧tar

Noun

mortar (plural mortar-mortar)

1. mortar,
   1. a mixture of lime or cement, sand and water used for bonding building blocks
   2. a hollow vessel used to pound, crush, rub, grind or mix ingredients with a pestle

      Synonym: lumpang

Further reading

• “mortar” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Noun

mortar

1. Alternative form of morter

Noun

mortar m

1. indefinite plural of mort

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mortārium (19th century).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /morˈtar/

Noun

mortar n (uncountable)

1. mortar (construction material)

Further reading

• “mortar”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025