Etymograph

English

morfa

Morfa comes from Welsh morfa ‘salt marsh’, from môr ‘sea’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mer-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-1‘sea, lake, wetland’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*móri2‘sea’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*mori2‘sea’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*mor2‘sea’reconstructed
  5. Welshc. 1500–presentmôr3‘sea’
  6. Welshc. 1500–presentmorfa4‘salt marsh’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1947morfa4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *móri
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Welsh môr
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Welsh morfa
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English morfa
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1947, James William Tutt, The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation: “[...] just inside the entrance to rabbits' burrows on…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *móri‘sea, lake, wetland’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*móriWiktionary, Welsh môr‘sea’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*moriWiktionary, Welsh môr‘sea’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*morWiktionary, Welsh môr‘sea’reconstructed
  5. Welshc. 1500–presentmôrWiktionary, Welsh morfa‘sea’
  6. Welshc. 1500–presentmorfaWiktionary, English morfa‘salt marsh’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1947morfaWiktionary, English morfa. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1947, James William Tutt, The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation: “[...] just inside the entrance to rabbits' burrows on…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘sea, lake, wetland’

remember, murder, nightmare, maritime, submarine, mortality, mara, immortal, mortal, muller, mortar, mariner, morbid, ambrosia, marshy, mortuary, marinara, mort, morn, moribund, cormorant, 56 more

through Proto-Indo-European *móri ‘sea’

march, marine, mere, marsh, mare, moor, marinate, maar, 16 more

Today it means

noun A low wetland periodically flooded by salt water; a salt marsh.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “morfa”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *móri, Welsh môr, Welsh morfa. 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 *mer- / morfa

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