MORON

Jaredite PN	1.	King, son of ETHEM (Ether 1:7–8; 11:18)
Jaredite GN	2.	Land on northern border of Desolation by narrow neck of land, also a city (Ether 7:5–6; 14:11)

No etymology is suggested.

If biblical GNs may be appealed to, there are two Palestinian placenames resembling MORON, Talmudic Meron, a city in Upper Galilee. (JAT), and the biblical GN *mēronōt, known only from the gentilic mēronotī (1 Chronicles 27:30 and Nehemiah 3:7) (JAT).

Other suggestions include both Semitic and Egyptian possibilities: from the root Semitic mrr, “bitter” (RFS); from Ugaritic *mrr, “strengthen, bless, command” (RFS); or from Egyptian *mr.mr.n, “our beloved, our friend” (RFS).

Much less likely are the suggestions from West Semitic mrʾ, “to command; commander” (RFS), because the aleph cannot be accounted for; from Ugaritic mryn, a type of warrior (RFS), because the yod cannot be accounted for; from Ugaritic mrr, “to strengthen, bless” (RFS), because the second r cannot be accounted for; and from Aramaic marana, “our Lord, the land of our Lord” (Reynolds, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, VI, p. 38), because the second m in MORMON is not accounted for.

Cf. Book of Mormon MORONI, AMARON, AMMORON, AMORON, EMRON, MORONIHAH, MORMON, MORIANTON, MORIANTUM, et al.