Moor | Definition, History, & Facts

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Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moor-people/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Moor-people">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moor-people/images-videos">Videos</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="/video/Overview-Alhambra-Granada-Spain/192065" data-href="/media/1/391449/192065" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <div class="position-relative --aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/66/180066-138-C2A77E7F/Overview-Alhambra-Granada-Spain.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Explore the 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moor-people/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn btn-sm border-2 btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 module-spacing js-inline-ai-ask-button p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/bidan-Moor" topicid="64747">bīdān Moor</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Moor-people"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref100594"></span>Moor</strong>, in English usage, a Moroccan or, formerly, a member of the Muslim population of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Andalus" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">al-Andalus</a>, now <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Spain" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Spain</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Portugal" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Portugal</a>. Of mixed <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arab" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Arab</a>, Spanish, and Amazigh (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Berber" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Berber</a>) origins, the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="Moors" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/Moors" data-type="EB">Moors</a> created the Islamic <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Al-Andalus" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Andalusian</a> civilization and subsequently settled as refugees in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Maghreb" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Maghreb</a> (in the region of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/North-Africa" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">North Africa</a>) between the 11th and 17th centuries. By extension (corresponding to the Spanish <em>moro</em>), the term occasionally denotes any Muslim in general, as in the case of the “Moors” of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sri-Lanka" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sri Lanka</a> or of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Philippines</a>. Today, the term Moor is used to designate the predominant Arab-Amazigh <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethnic-group" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">ethnic group</a> in <span id="ref1225738"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mauritania" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mauritania</a> (which makes up more than two-thirds of the country’s population) and the small Arab-Amazigh minority in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mali" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mali</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The word derives from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Latin" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Latin</a> term Maurus, first used by the Romans to denote an inhabitant of the Roman province of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mauretania-region-North-Africa" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mauretania</a>, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="comprising" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprising" data-type="MW">comprising</a> the western portion of present-day <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Algeria</a> and the northeastern portion of present-day <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Morocco" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Morocco</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The term is of little use in describing the ethnic characteristics of any groups, ancient or modern. From the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Middle-Ages" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Middle Ages</a> to the 17th century, however, Europeans depicted Moors as being black, “swarthy,” or “tawny” in skin colour. (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Othello-by-Shakespeare" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Othello</a>, Shakespeare’s Moor of Venice, comes to mind in such a context.) Europeans designated Muslims of any other complexion as “white Moors,” despite the fact that the population in most parts of North Africa differs little in physical appearance from that of southern Europe (in Morocco, for example, red and blonde hair are relatively common).</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-read-more-module" href="/topic/Islamic-arts/Western-Islamic-art-Moorish#ref316916" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/32/129432-004-E9D45A04/Al-Hakim-Mosque-Cairo.jpg" alt="Al-Ḥākim Mosque" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-navy-dark">More From Britannica</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Islamic arts: Western Islamic art: Moorish</div> </div> </a><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The term Moorish continues to be widely used to describe the art, architecture, and high <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="culture" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture" data-type="MW">culture</a> of Muslim <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Andalusia-region-Spain/History#ref92367" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Andalusia</a> and North Africa dating from the 11th century onward.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span><span class="md-signature font-12">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Adam-Zeidan/12409087">Adam Zeidan</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-simplify-root"></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":391449,"pageLength":274,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-134/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.134.26"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-134/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.134.26' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true,"hasAiTopQuestions":false,"hasSimplifyButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Moor | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica