marre

Pronunciation

• /maʁ/^[1]

Forms

marre (invariable)^[1] First recorded as maré (1881), then mar (1895) and marre (1896).^[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] The TLFi and Rey's DHLF think it most likely a back-formation from the old verb se marer, “to be bored”, rather than from Old French marrir (“to grieve, afflict”);^[2][3] Old French had related nouns of similar meaning, such as marrement (“grief, displeasure”), marrissement (“displeasure”) and marance (“affliction, minor fault”).^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg instead make it the verbal noun of the second verb, used reflexively for “to be bored” and in Old French for “to grieve”, and the GLLF a back-formation from the first, in its old sense “to be bored”.^[4][5]

Pierre Guiraud connected it with the family of marelle, through Old and Middle French forms such as merel and méreau, which named tokens used as money or for counting: from “token giving one's share” would come a phrase meaning “to have one's share”, that is, to have had enough; the TLFi finds this not wholly convincing.^[2][3] The Petit Robert also mentions Spanish marearse (“to feel seasick”), from mar (“sea”),^[6][7] while an Arabic origin, sometimes proposed, is supported by no text from North Africa.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaston Esnault records maré “enough” as an adverb in 1881, and in 1883 the phrase j'en ai maré, where it is a noun expressing disgust.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

J'en ai maré was followed by j'en ai mar “I am exasperated” (1895) and by the exclamation marre ! (1896), recorded in Delesalle's slang dictionary.^[2][3] The impersonal il y en a marre and c'est marre ! “that's enough” appear at the beginning of the 20th century.^[5] The word lives almost only in the phrase en avoir marre.^[3]

The related verb se marrer was first a slang word for “to be bored” (1886), then, by antiphrasis, “to split one's sides laughing” (1920), and gave marrant “funny” (1920).^[4]

Timeline

• 1881 – Maré “enough” recorded by Esnault.^[2]
• 1883 – J'en ai maré, expressing disgust.^[2][3]
• 1895 – J'en ai mar “I am exasperated”.^[2][7]
• 1896 – The spelling marre in Delesalle's slang dictionary.^[2][4]
• 1916 – Barbusse writes J'en ai marre in Le Feu.^[2]
• Early 20th century – Il y en a marre, c'est marre !.^[5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (familiar) Only in en avoir marre (de): to be fed up (with), to have had enough (of).^[6][2][1]
2. (familiar) (Il) y en a marre, c'est marre: that's enough, it can't go on.^[6][5]
3. (familiar) As an exclamation, marre !: enough!^[5]

Word family

• marrer
• marrant

Usage notes

A separate, regional word marre (feminine) is a vine-grower's hoe, used chiefly in the Centre and West of France; it is recorded from 1265 and comes from Latin marra (“a kind of hoe”), like Italian marra and Spanish marra.^[2][4][8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5370