Morning, properly the dawn of day, sunrise, but extended to the whole early part of the day, from the dawn to midday. "Morning" (M. Eng. morwening) was formed on the analogy of "evening," from "morn," in M. Eng. morwen, and originally meant the coming of the sunrise, as "evening," the coming of the close of the day (0. Eng. cefnung, from cefen, eve). The O. Eng. morwen represents the common Teutonic word for the dawn; the ultimate source has been assigned to the root, seen in "murk," "murky," meaning to be dark, or, with more probability, to the root mergh, to twinkle, shine (cf. Lith. mirga), and further to the root mar, as in Gr. ,uapµafpav, to shine (cf. Lat. marmor, marble). The M. Eng. morwen dropped the n and became morwe, " morrow," which properly means "morning," but was soon used of the day following the present.
The "morning-star" (Ger. Morgenstern) was a military weapon of the middle ages, consisting of a mace or club with a ball head studded with spikes; the spiked ball was sometimes swung loose from the head of the mace by a chain. The weapon was also known as a "holy water sprinkler." The "morninggift," earlier "moryeve," Ger. Morgengabe, was the present given to a bride by her husband on the morning after the marriage. The custom is probably connected with the origin of the term "morganatic marriage" (see Morganatic).
