Etymologically
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marine

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /məˈriːn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English maryne, borrowed from Middle French marin (“of the sea”), feminine marine,[2][3] and directly from Latin marīnus (“of the sea”),[3][4] from mare “sea”,[3][2] from Proto-Indo-European *mori- (“body of water”).[3] Latin mare is cognate with Gothic marei, German Meer, Old English mere “sea, lake” (the source of mere), Irish muir and Welsh môr.[2][5][4] It is related to mariner, maritime and mermaid.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the sea, found in the sea: about 1420 in the OED,[7] probably 1440 in Barnhart, in a translation of Palladius,[2] the mid-15th century in Etymonline.[3] The Old English word was sǣlic.[3]

Semantic evolution

A noun marine meaning seacoast or the area by the sea is found before 1375,[2][3] and survives in marina.[2] The shipping or fleet of a country is from 1669,[2][3] and a soldier serving on a ship from 1672,[2][3] a new borrowing from French marine with no connection to the earlier noun.[2][3] Marines were at first any men serving on a ship, but from the late 17th century the word was restricted to troops trained to fight on land or sea,[6] now especially the Royal Marines or the United States Marine Corps.[6][8] Tell that to the marines, expressing disbelief, is from 1805.[3] Of painters, depicting the sea, is from 1883.[7]

Timeline

  • a. 1375 – noun, the seacoast.[2]
  • c. 1420 – adjective, of the sea.[7]
  • 1566 – of shipping or maritime affairs.[7]
  • 1669 – a country's shipping.[2]
  • 1672 – a soldier serving on a ship.[2]
  • 1805 – tell that to the marines.[3]
  • 1883 – of a painter, depicting the sea.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of, found in or produced by the sea: marine life.
  2. Relating to shipping or navigation: marine insurance.
  3. Relating to marines.

Noun

  1. A soldier trained to serve on land or at sea, especially a member of the Royal Marines or the United States Marine Corps.
  2. The ships or shipping of a country.
  3. A picture of a sea scene.

Word family

  • aeromarine
  • fluviomarine
  • gyrene
  • intermarine
  • nonmarine
  • semimarine
  • submarine
  • supermarine
  • marina
  • mariner
  • maritime
  • mermaid
  • mere
  • marinate

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin