mare Italian · revision 38403

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=ine-pro *móri}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈma.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mare''' ''m'' (plural mari, relational adjective marittimo or marino)^(Wiktionary)

+ Before a name it is often shortened to ''mar'' (''Mar Nero'').^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Giacomino da Verona has ''maro'' in the 13th century, and Old Italian sometimes made the word feminine.^(DEI|2363)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|mare|t=sea]], from [[itc-pro|*mari]], from [[ine-pro|*móri|t=sea, lake]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) The word is panromance: [[fr|mer]], [[oc|mar]], [[ca|mar]], [[es|mar]], [[pt|mar]], [[sc|mare]], [[ro|mare]] and [[dlm|mur]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) In Romanian, French, Occitan, Catalan, Old Spanish and the old dialects of Lombardy and Venice it became feminine, probably after the word for land, [[la|terra]]; the GDLI explains the Old Italian feminine from French usage.^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2363)^(GDLI|9, 785)

+

+ The Latin word has cognates in the western Indo-European languages only: [[got|𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹|tr=marei]], [[goh|meri]], [[sga|muir]], [[cy|mor]], [[ru|море|tr=móre]] and [[lt|marės|alt=mãrės|t=lagoon]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(DELI 1999) Sanskrit, Greek and Armenian lack it.^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(DELI 1999) The original sense was any large body of water, a lake or lagoon.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968|272) De Vaan explains the Latin vowel as an unrounding of ⟨o⟩ in an open syllable.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, with the sense “the mass of salt water that covers most of the globe”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante still uses the word for a great lake, the older sense that survives in the name of the Dead Sea, ''Mar Morto''.^(DEI|2363) Latin expressions passed into Italian: ''portare acqua al mare'', “to carry water to the sea”, which Giovan Battista Gelli recognized as a Latin proverb (Ovid has ''aquas in mare fundere''), and ''mare magnum'', a great confusion, used before 1629.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ From the noun came ''marea'' “tide” (Giovanni Villani, before 1348), ''mareggiare'' (Dante), ''mareggiata'' “storm surge” (Luigi Pulci, before 1484) and ''maremoto'' (1891), formed on the model of ''terremoto''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini takes ''marea'' from [[fr|marée]].^(Nocentini 2010) Galileo, who turned the telescope on the Moon in 1610, called its dark plains ''maria'', seas; the Italian astronomical sense is recorded in 1934.^(DELI 1999) Figurative uses for a vast expanse or a great quantity (''un mare di debiti'') complete the modern word.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''mare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – Giacomino da Verona uses the form ''maro''.^(DEI|2363)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses ''marea''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses ''mareggiata''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1610 – Galileo names the dark plains of the Moon ''maria''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1629 – ''Mare magnum'' is used for a great confusion.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1891 – ''Maremoto'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1934 – The lunar sense is recorded in Italian.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|sea]], the mass of salt water that surrounds the land: ''Il mare oggi è calmo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A particular part of it, with its own name: ''il Mar Tirreno'', ''il Mare del Nord''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The seaside, as a place for holidays: ''Ad agosto andiamo al mare.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(nautical)'' Rough sea, heavy waves: ''C'era troppo mare per uscire con la barca.''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A vast [[m|en|expanse]]: ''un mare di sabbia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A great quantity: ''un mare di debiti'', ''un mare di lavoro''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' A dark plain on the surface of the Moon, a [[m|en|mare]]: ''il Mare della Tranquillità''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[marea]]

+ * [[mareggiare]]

+ * [[mareggiata]]

+ * [[maremoto]]

+ * [[maretta]]

+ * [[maroso]]

+ * [[ammarare]]

+ * [[ammaraggio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[marino]]

+ * [[marittimo]]

+ * [[marina]]

+ * [[marinaio]]

+ * [[maremma]]

+ * [[la|mare]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Set phrases include ''alto mare'' “the open sea”, ''essere in alto mare'' “to be far from the goal”, and ''una goccia nel mare'' “a drop in the ocean”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}