Mari

[mah-ree]

noun, plural Ma·ris, (especially collectively) Ma·ri for 1.

a member of a Uralic people living in scattered communities north of Cheboksary and Kazan in European Russia, mainly in the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
the Finnic language of the Mari.

Origin of Mari

< Russian mári (not declined) < Mari marij Mari, man

Also called Cheremis, Cheremiss.

Cheremis

or Cher·e·miss

[cher-uh-mis, -mees, cher-uh-mis, -mees]

noun, plural Cher·e·mis·es, (especially collectively) Cher·e·mis.

Mari.

Origin of Cheremis

< Russian cheremís, earlier cheremísin, Old Russian (plural) chermisy, probably < Chuvash śarmîs, śarmîś Mari

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cheremiss

Historical Examples of cheremiss

(1883–85); works of Smirnov on the Mordva, Cheremiss, etc., Fr.
The Races of Man
Joseph Deniker
We hear of a forest-god among the Finns, Lapps and Cheremiss.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4
Various

British Dictionary definitions for cheremiss

Cheremiss

Cheremis

noun

plural -miss or -mis a member of an Ugrian people of the Volga region, esp of the Mari El Republic
Also called: Mari the language of this people, belonging to the Finno-Ugric family

Mari

noun plural Mari or Maris

another name for Cheremiss

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