Etymologically
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marvel

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmɑːvəl/ (UK); /ˈmɑɹvəl/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English merveile, borrowed from Old French merveille (“a wonder, surprise, miracle”),[2][3][4][5] from Vulgar Latin *miribilia, an alteration of Late Latin mirabilia (“wonderful things, marvels”), the neuter plural of mirabilis (“wonderful”), treated as a feminine singular,[2][3][6] from mīrārī (“to wonder at”), from mirus, wonderful (see miracle).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A miracle; something wonderful: before 1300 in the OED and Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The miracle sense is obsolete.[7][4] A wonderful or astonishing thing is from about 1330,[7] and a wonderful story or legend is an obsolete 14th-century sense.[7][3] Astonishment or wonder itself, now archaic, is from 1303.[7] A wonderful example of some quality is from 1873.[7] The verb, to be filled with wonder, is from about 1300,[3][5] and SOED labels it now literary.[8] The Marvel comics brand dates to 1961.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – a miracle.[7]
  • c. 1300 – to wonder (verb).[3]
  • 1303 – astonishment.[7]
  • c. 1330 – an astonishing thing.[7]
  • 1873 – a wonderful example.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A wonderful or astonishing person or thing; a wonder.

Verb

  1. To be filled with wonder or astonishment: marvel at.

Word family

  • marvelment
  • marvelous

Usage notes

A separate dialect marvel, a marble, is an alteration of marble (mid-18th century).[8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press