Morse
Earlier writers to do not often refer to the Walrus by that name, but generally call it either a Morse or a Sea-horse. The name Morse was derived from Finnish mursu by way of Russian morj'; since the English first became acquainted with these improbable beasts in Russian Arctic waters, it is not surprising that they should have initially favoured a name borrowed from the Russians. But the Dutch were the other main early voyagers to those areas, and the English also borrowed the Dutch name for the beast, Walrus. Now this was not actually of Dutch origin, but had been taken over from the Scandinavian term hvalros [and related forms], meaning 'whale-horse', supposedly given to the animals because they they make a neighing-sound like horses (I have never got close enough to a walrus to know whether they actually do); and the third English alternative, Sea-horse, now monopolized by the quaint little fishes, was surely suggested by the ros component [c.f. German Ross] in the Scandinavian names. This is not entirely useless knowledge if one wants to understand early accounts of Arctic voyages.
'Morse' can also be a term for the clasp or fastening of a cope, not something that one has occasion to refer to every day, or indeed ever by that particular name if one wants to be understood. In this case, the word is ultimately derived from Latin morsus, the catch or literally 'bite' of a buckle.
'Morse' can also be a term for the clasp or fastening of a cope, not something that one has occasion to refer to every day, or indeed ever by that particular name if one wants to be understood. In this case, the word is ultimately derived from Latin morsus, the catch or literally 'bite' of a buckle.