marcel

[ mahr-sel ]

/ mɑrˈsɛl /

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verb (used with object), mar·celled, mar·cel·ling.

to wave (the hair) by means of special irons, producing the effect of regular, continuous waves (marcel waves ).

noun

a marcelling.

a marcelled condition.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of marcel

First recorded in 1890–95; named after Marcel Grateau (1852–1936), French hairdresser who originated it

OTHER WORDS FROM marcel

mar·cel·ler, noun

Words nearby marcel

Marcantonio, Marc Antony, marcasite, marcato, Marceau, marcel, marcella, Marcellinus, Marcello, Marcellus, Marcellus I

Other definitions for marcel (2 of 2)

Marcel

[ mahr-sel; French mar-sel ]

/ mɑrˈsɛl; French marˈsɛl /

noun

Ga·bri·el

[ga-bree-el], /ga briˈɛl/, 1887–1973, French philosopher, dramatist, and critic.

a male given name.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use marcel in a sentence

The holding company also launched “Publicis Schooling,” a series of virtual classes for pre-kindergarten to high school aged children, taught by Publicis Groupe employees using the holding company’s AI platform, Marcel, to connect.
‘Truly integrated’: As an unusual school year commences, agencies are aiming to help working parents more than ever before|Kristina Monllos|September 28, 2020|Digiday
Marcel the elephant takes readers on a journey through his life, recounting his memories full of travel and adventure.
The Daily Beast’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide: For the Blue Ivy in Your Life|Allison McNearney|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The priest for the Creole ceremony was Father Marcel Saint Jean.
Mother Cabrini, Saint of the Green Card|Michael Luongo|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That August, she and Camp co-wrote the first Marcel the Shell video.
The Casual Genius of Jenny Slate: ‘Marcel the Shell,’ ‘Obvious Child,’ and the Ghost of ‘SNL’|Kevin Fallon|October 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

She saw herself as part of a larger tradition that includes Honore de Balzac, Leo Tolstoy, Marcel Proust, and Thomas Mann.
Still Desperately Seeking Susan Sontag|Allen Barra|September 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The third group came in the 1930s because of Adolf Hitler: Anni Albers, Ruth Adler Schnee, Marcel Breuer.
How Jews Created American Modernism|Andrew Romano|August 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Explanations were difficult, but were accomplished during supper, and next day Marcel and Schaunard agreed to live together.
Vie de Bohme|Orlo Williams
He lived and died in the house of his sister, in the fields just beyond Porte Saint-Marcel.
The Stones of Paris in History and Letters, Volume I (of 2)|Benjamin Ellis Martin
"There is one thing that both of us must bear in mind, Lieutenant Melville," said Marcel, presently.
In Hostile Red|Joseph Altsheler
Marcel had a sprightly humor, and one could never tell how it was going to show itself.
In Hostile Red|Joseph Altsheler
We shook up our horses, and they trotted forward, Marcel and I assuming an air of ease and indifference.
In Hostile Red|Joseph Altsheler

British Dictionary definitions for marcel (1 of 2)

marcel

/ (mɑːˈsɛl) /

noun

Also called: marcel wave a hairstyle characterized by repeated regular waves, popular in the 1920s

verb -cels, -celling or -celled

(tr) to make such waves in (the hair) with special hot irons

Derived forms of marcel

marceller, noun

Word Origin for marcel

C20: after Marcel Grateau (1852–1936), French hairdresser

British Dictionary definitions for marcel (2 of 2)

Marcel

/ (French marsɛl) /

noun

Gabriel (Honoré) (ɡabriɛl). 1889–1973, French Christian existentialist philosopher and dramatist, whose philosophical works include Being and Having (1949) and The Mystery of Being (1951)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012