At what date did the term 'moro' ('Moor') first appear in Latin/Castilian sources, with reference to the Muslims of *al andalus*.

by estranjero

Using al andalus as a convenient phrase for the successive political entities in the southern Peninsula following the Arab conquest.

Alkibiades415

The term pre-dates the Romans, and is a Greek term μαυρός, from the more common ἀμαυρός "dark, dim, faint." Its Greek etymology is unknown, and it might be a loan-word from Scythian maurva- per Beekes. It's route to "Moor" is as follows:

  1. Greek Mαυρός, probably to describe the inhabitants of North Africa in the Classical or even pre-Classical period, or else the Greek version of a native North African toponym.

  2. Latin Maurus, thence the regional name Mauretania

  3. Late Latin Morus

  4. Old French More

  5. English "Moor"

I'm not as sure about Al Andalus, and I don't have any Arabic etymological sources, but the name Andalusia to refer to southern Spain is from Late Latin Vandalicia, "land of the Vandals."