Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Maurice” come from?

Maurice comes from Late Latin Mauritius, derived from Latin Maurus, which was borrowed from Ancient Greek Μαῦρος or Μαυρός, originally referring to a person from Mauretania.

Ancestry of “Maurice”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishMaurice—
2LatinMauritius—
3LatinmaurusMoorish, North African
4FrenchmaureMoorish
5Middle Frenchmoré—
6Old FrenchMore—
7LatinMaurusOf or pertaining to the Moors; Moorish,...
8Ancient GreekΜαυρούσιοςan inhabitant of Mauretania; a Mauretanian
9Ancient Greek-ούσιος—
10Ancient Greek-ῐοςbelonging to; of”, “belonging to”, “pertaining to
11Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “Maurice”

  • Mossie
  • Morrison
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →