mar English · revision 6934

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 897|origins=gem-pro *marzijaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɑː(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''; /mɑɹ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English merren, marren, [[inh|ang|merran|t=to hinder; waste, spoil]] (West Saxon mierran),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*marzijaną]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) source also of Old Saxon merrian, Old High German marren, merren, to hinder, and Gothic marzjan, to cause to stumble, offend.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It may be from PIE [[ine-pro|*mers-|t=to forget, neglect]], also the source of Sanskrit mṛṣyate, he forgets.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To damage a thing so as to make it useless: about 897 in the OED;^(OED 1989) to hinder or interrupt, about 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(Hoad 1986) To deface or disfigure is early 13th-century.^(Etymonline) The noun, a hindrance, and a speech impediment, is obsolete except in Scots;^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989) something that mars, a drawback, is from 1551.^(OED 1989) Northern dialects used mar also of spoiling a child.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 897 – to damage, ruin.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1000 – to hinder.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 13th century – to disfigure.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1551 – a drawback (noun).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To spoil the quality or appearance of; to [[impair]] or [[disfigure]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==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.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}