köken: A Sami borrowing, ultimately from Proto-Samic *moršë. Compare Finnish mursu, Skolt Sami moršša, English morse, and possibly the second element of translingual Rosmarus.
köken: Etymology tree Proto-Samic *moršë Samibor. Ukrainian морж Borrowed from a Sami language, from Proto-Samic *moršë. Compare Skolt Sami moršša, Finnish mursu.
The origin of this word is not wholly certain, with several theories proposed. Probably borrowed from Danish hvalros or Swedish valross, from an inversion of Old Norse hrosshvalr (“horse-whale”). Equivalent to wal (“whale; large sea-animal”) + ros (“horse”). The Old Norse word may, however, been a folk-etymological modification of Old Norse rossmal, related to Proto-Germanic *rusta-, from the…