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Meaning & History
Meant "sacred olive tree" in Greek, referring to a type of olive tree in ancient Greece that was believed to have 'been propagated from the original olive which Athena herself had caused to spring up on the Acropolis'; uprooting one of the sacred μορίαι (moriai) was an offense punishable by dispossession and banishment.Though the etymology is probably unrelated, this is the name of a naiad in Greek mythology, whose story 'appears to be a Lydian version of the tale of Pelops, the boy restored to life by the Moirai' (when her brother was killed by a monstrous serpent, Moria brought him back to life using a magical herb). In this case it is perhaps related to Greek μόρος (moros) meaning "fate, destiny, doom".