Etymologically
Log in

mar

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɑː(ɹ)/ (UK); /mɑɹ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English merren, marren, inherited from Old English merran (“to hinder; waste, spoil”) (West Saxon mierran),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *marzijaną,[2][3] source also of Old Saxon merrian, Old High German marren, merren, to hinder, and Gothic marzjan, to cause to stumble, offend.[2][5] It may be from PIE Proto-Indo-European *mers- (“to forget, neglect”), also the source of Sanskrit mṛṣyate, he forgets.[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To damage a thing so as to make it useless: about 897 in the OED;[6] to hinder or interrupt, about 1000.[6]

Semantic evolution

Hoad traces the change from hindering and spoiling in Old English to harming, injuring and ruining (13th century), now in a lighter sense.[5] To deface or disfigure is early 13th-century.[3] The noun, a hindrance, and a speech impediment, is obsolete except in Scots;[7][6] something that mars, a drawback, is from 1551.[6] Northern dialects used mar also of spoiling a child.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 897 – to damage, ruin.[6]
  • c. 1000 – to hinder.[6]
  • early 13th century – to disfigure.[3]
  • 1551 – a drawback (noun).[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To spoil the quality or appearance of; to impair or disfigure.

Word family

  • marplot
  • unmarred

Usage notes

Mar is also an honorific title for saints and senior clergy in the Syriac churches, from Aramaic, recorded in English from 1694.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)