† ˈmormo Obs.
Also 7–8 mormoe.
[a. Gr. µορµώ, a hideous she-monster.]
A kind of hobgoblin; a bugbear; an imaginary terror.
| 1605 Z. Jones tr. De Loyer's Specters 15 In like sort Mormo..was one of those with which they terrified little children. a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. ii. 37 To all which we may add the..frightful apparitions of ghosts and mormos. 1676 [see morphosis]. 1738 Warburton Div. Legat. I. 335 A Mormo fit only to fright Women and Children. |