Mormon

See also: mormon, mormón, mórmon, and Mórmon

English

Etymology

From the title of the chief work of Joseph Smith the Book of Mormon. Followers of his religious movement were called this since the 1830s.[1] The title of the book comes from the name from the prophet who they believe compiled it, called Mormon, father of Moroni, and/or the Waters of Mormon mentioned in it.[2]

Various implausible etymologies have been proposed, usually in attempts to discredit or defend the Mormon faith.[3]

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɔːmən/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmɔɹmən/
  • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)mən
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)

Proper noun

Mormon

  1. In Mormonism, an ancient American prophet who compiled the Book of Mormon.
  2. A surname.

Derived terms

Translations

Statistics

  • According to the 2010 United States Census, Mormon is the 60347th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 334 individuals. Mormon is most common among White (52.99%) and Black/African-American (40.42%) individuals.

Noun

Mormon (plural Mormons)

  1. (originally derogatory, sometimes proscribed) A believer in the Mormon religion, which views Joseph Smith as a prophet of God and holds the Bible and the Book of Mormon as its primary scriptures.
    Synonyms: Latter-day Saint, LDS

Coordinate terms

religious adherentsedit

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Hopi: moomona
  • → Fijian: momani
  • → Samoan: Mamona
  • → Hawaiian: Moramona
  • → Portuguese: mórmon
  • → Spanish: mormón
  • → Japanese: モルモン

Translations

Adjective

Mormon (not comparable)

  1. (sometimes proscribed) Of, or pertaining to, the faith established by Joseph Smith, Jr.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ An early use is in the title of the 1839 Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons, Or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri.
  2. ^ Within the Book of Mormon, the waters are said by the book to have been named by "the king" (taken in context to be King Noah).
  3. ^ For example, the suggestion that Mormon or Moroni might be derived from moron cannot be correct, because moron was only coined in 1910. For more theories, see Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, volume 13 (2015, →ISBN. The most prominent pro-Mormon etymology is the one, suggested in an 1834 Times and Seasons letter, that the term derives from English more + a supposed Egyptian *mon (“good”), which, however, modern scholarship considers figurative at best — see Paul Y. Hoskisson, What's in a Name? Mormon part 1 (Insights 32/2, 2012) and part 2 (Insights 32/3, 2012). Matthew Bowen suggested that the name derives from Egyptian mr(j) (“to love, desire”). On the anti-Mormon side, Eber D. Howe suggested in 1834 that "The English word Mormon [...] is the English termination of the Greek word, "Mormoo," which we find defined in an old obsolete Dictionary "bug-bear, hob-goblin, raw head, and bloody bones"; Hoskisson writes that "almost any knowledgeable reader, even in 1834, would have recognized that this definition is not only fabricated but downright silly." An anonymous editorialist wrote in 1841 that "[In] the reformed Egyptian tongue, [...] Mormon [is] a writer of wicked, absurd, fictitious nonsense, for evil purposes, to make sorcerors", which the Interpreter calls "laughable".
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