Mordor

From Mordor, a bleak realm ruled by the dark lord Sauron, in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth. Tolkien created the name in his constructed language Sindarin, from morn (“dark, black”) and dôr (“land”).

Compare with Old English morþor (“murder”), murder, Greek μαυρός (mavrós, “dim”) and Latin mors (“death”).

Sense 2 is a semantic loan from Ukrainian Мо́рдор (Mórdor) or Russian Мо́рдор (Mórdor), both of those from the English word.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔːdɔː(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔɹdɔɹ/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈmoːdoː(ɹ)/

Mordor

1. An area of peril, darkness, or evil, which people fear to visit or explore.
   • 2007, Paul F. M. Zahl, Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., published 2007, →ISBN, page 94:

     It is a “Mordor” sort of anthropology, dark rather than light, swampland rather than solid ground.

   • 2007, B. Erin Wylde, Where Did I Go?, →ISBN, page 100:

     Nevertheless, this book is about the truth, the good and the bad, so I will tread into the forbidden territory, the Mordor of motherhood.

   • 2012, Zygmunt Miłoszewski, A Grain of Truth: A Second Case for State Prosecutor Teodor Szacki, Bitter Lemon Press (2012; original Polish book published 2011), →ISBN, page 290:

     “OK, can we go back now?” asked their guide and expert on the underground, whose restless eyes implied that he was on the edge of panic. “I for one am not venturing a step further into this Mordor.”

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Mordor.
2. (politics, derogatory, neologism) Russia

• wasteland, hellscape

• Chinese: 魔多
• Polish: Mordor
• Russian: Мо́рдор (Mórdor)
• Ukrainian: Мо́рдор (Mórdor)

From Mordor, a bleak realm ruled by the dark lord Sauron, in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔr.dɔr/
• Rhymes: -ɔrdɔr
• Syllabification: Mor‧dor

Mordor m inan

1. Mordor (bleak realm ruled by the dark lord Sauron, in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth)
2. (figuratively) Mordor (area of peril, darkness, or evil)
3. (colloquial, derogatory, Warsaw) office complexes on Domaniewska street in Służewiec, a district of Warsaw
   • 2013, Nie sloik, “Re: "Leming jedzie na Służewiec ściśnięty w pozyc...”, in Forum Gazeta.pl‎:

     A z resztą zgoda - dojazd zbiorkomem jest na Służewiec koszmarny. Nieoficjalna nazwa tej okolicy to od jakiegoś czasu Mordor.

     I agree with the others - mass transit to Służewiec is nightmarish. The unoffical name of this region has been for some time Mordor.

• Mordor in Polish dictionaries at PWN