Etymograph

English

moratory

Moratory comes from Latin moratorius ‘delaying’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-1‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoratorius1‘delaying’
  3. Englishtodaymoratory1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English moratory

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-Wiktionary, English moratory‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoratoriusWiktionary, English moratory‘delaying’
  3. EnglishtodaymoratoryWiktionary, English moratory

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’

memory, merit, memoir, martyr, memorable, mer, mourn, memorandum, memorabilia, memoria, 15 more

Today it means

adj Pertaining to delay of payment or fulfilment of an obligation.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “moratory”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- / moratory

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