## Meanings
1. A paste of cement, sand and water that holds bricks or stones together as it dries.
2. A hard bowl in which you crush and grind things like spices using a small heavy stick called a pestle.
3. A short, heavy gun that fires shells high into the air over a short distance.
4. To attack a place or person with a mortar gun.

## Examples
- The builder spread mortar between the bricks to hold them in place.
- She ground the garlic and herbs in a mortar with a pestle.
- The soldiers fired a mortar over the enemy lines.
- The insurgents mortared the base during the night.

## Derived Forms
- antimortar
- brick-and-mortar
- bricks-and-mortar
- micromortar
- mortarboard
- mortarless
- mortarlike
- mortarman
- mortary
- unmortared

## Related Forms
- gun
- howitzer

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: morter
- Root: mortier
- Root: mortārium

## Etymology
From Middle English morter, from Old French mortier, from Latin mortārium. Doublet of mortarium.

## AI Etymology
Mortar comes from Middle English morter, from Old French mortier, from Latin mortārium. Doublet of mortarium. In present-day English its meanings include a paste of cement, sand and water that holds bricks or stones together as it dries, a hard bowl in which you crush and grind things like spices using a small heavy stick called a pestle, and a short, heavy gun that fires shells high into the air over a short distance. The historical chain runs through morter (Middle English), mortier (Old French), and mortārium (Latin). Related and derived forms include gun, howitzer, antimortar, and brick-and-mortar.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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mortar

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