Death or a large quantity (informal). In hunting terminology, the note sounded on a horn when a deer is killed.
From Old French 'mort,' from Latin 'mors, mortis' meaning death. The hunting sense developed in medieval times when specific horn calls announced successful kills. The informal meaning of 'a lot' emerged in 19th-century dialect, possibly from the idea of 'death' as something overwhelming.
This simple word carries the gravitas of mortality while also meaning 'heaps' in casual speech - showing how language transforms the ultimate human fear into everyday expression! The hunting horn 'mort' was so important in medieval culture that it became a metaphor for any final, decisive moment.
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