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mare
1[ mair ]
/ mɛər /
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noun
a fully mature female horse or other equine animal.
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Origin of mare
1First recorded before 900; Middle English, mere, mare, maire “horse for riding; beast of burden,” Old English mere, myre “mare”; cognate with Old Frisian merie, Dutch merrie, German Mähre, Old Norse merr; the feminine equivalents to Old English mearh, Old High German marah, march, Old Norse marr, Irish marc, “horse, steed”; see also marshal
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH mare
mare , mayorWords nearby mare
Other definitions for mare (2 of 4)
Origin of mare
2First recorded before 900; Middle English mare “night goblin; incubus,” Old English mære, mare, mere “nightmare; monster that oppresses people in their sleep”; cognate with German Mahre, Old Norse mara; see nightmare
Other definitions for mare (3 of 4)
mare3
[ mahr-ey, mair-ee ]
/ ˈmɑr eɪ, ˈmɛər i /
noun, plural ma·ri·a [mahr-ee-uh, mair-]. /ˈmɑr i ə, ˈmɛər-/. Astronomy.
any of the several large, dark plains on the moon and Mars: Galileo believed that the lunar features were seas when he first saw them through a telescope.
Origin of mare
3First recorded in 1760–70; from Latin: literally, “sea”
Other definitions for mare (4 of 4)
Mar.E.
abbreviation
Marine Engineer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use mare in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for mare (1 of 2)
mare1
/ (mɛə) /
noun
the adult female of a horse or zebra
Word Origin for mare
C12: from Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German mariha, Old Norse merr mare
British Dictionary definitions for mare (2 of 2)
mare2
/ (ˈmɑːreɪ, -rɪ) /
noun plural maria (ˈmɑːrɪə)
(capital when part of a name) any of a large number of huge dry plains on the surface of the moon, visible as dark markings and once thought to be seas: Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers)
a similar area on the surface of Mars, such as Mare Sirenum
Word Origin for mare
from Latin: sea
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Scientific definitions for mare
mare
[ mä′rā ]
Plural maria (mä′rē-ə)
Any of the large, low-lying dark areas on the Moon or on Mars or other inner planets. The lunar maria are believed to consist of volcanic basalts, and many are believed to be basins formed initially by large impacts with meteoroids and later filled with lava flows. Compare terra.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.