Mary

[mair-ee, mer-ee]

noun

1. Also called Virgin Mary. the mother of Jesus.

2. the sister of Lazarus and Martha. Luke 10:38–42; John 11:1,2.

3. Mary, Queen of Scots.

4. Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, 1867–1953, Queen of England 1910–36 (wife of George V).

5. Slang: Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive.,  a term used to refer to or address a gay man (sometimes used facetiously).

6. a female given name.

Mary

¹

/ ˈmɛərɪ /

noun

1. New Testament

   1. the mother of Jesus, believed to have conceived and borne him while still a virgin; she was married to Joseph (Matthew 1:18–25). Major feast days: Feb 2, Mar 25, May 31, Aug 15, Sept 8

   2. the sister of Martha and Lazarus (Luke 10:38–42; John 11:1–2)

2. obsolete,  an Aboriginal woman or girl

Mary

²

/ ˈmɛərɪ /

noun

1. original name Princess Mary of Teck. 1867–1953, queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1910–36) by marriage to George V

Sensitive Note

When referring to a gay man, the term Mary can be contemptuous. However, even in direct address, it is more often used for humorous effect, without intent to offend. In fact, Mary is a term of address sometimes adopted by gay people themselves.

Pronunciation Note

Pop Quiz: Do you pronounce Mary, marry, and merry all with slightly different vowels? If so, we venture to guess that you're from the northeastern part of the United States. In that region, Mary is pronounced with the same vowel as mare , marry with the same vowel as mat , and merry with the same vowel as met . Many of these regional distinctions persist despite the equalizing effect of modern communications technology. But because patterns of sound can shift, linguists have documented how certain vowel sounds have merged over time to be pronounced the same, though still spelled differently. The majority of Americans use the merged vowel , as in met, for all three words. The three-way contrast can be heard in New York City and Boston. Philadelphia's three-way contrast includes an additional merger of Murray and merry, where both words are pronounced with the same vowel as fur . Two-way mergers are also common, notably Mary and merry (but not marry ) in the South. Other vowel mergers can be heard in regional dialects of American English, for example pin and pen, or cot and caught. Do you merge or not?

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mary¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English Marie, Old English Maria, from Late Latin, from Greek María, from Hebrew Miryām; Miriam ( def. )

Example Sentences

Lanchester had been nominated before, in 1949's Come to the Stable, and after Laughton's death she continued to work steadily, including on a number of Disney films including Mary Poppins and That Darn Cat!.

Read more on BBC

Dr James Wright, an AI specialist and visiting professor at Queen Mary University of London, spent seven months observing them.

Read more on BBC

Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., agrees that past generations faced their own troubles.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The family continued to attend games through Conrad’s teenage years but stopped “when even the birds couldn’t afford to attend,” Mary said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

I’d traveled to Edinburgh with a dark purpose: to uncover the grisly stories and Gothic artifacts that helped inspire Mary Shelley to write one of the world’s most enduring horror tales.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal