mare
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
plural
marianoun
noun
-
(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 )
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a similar area on the surface of Mars, such as Mare Sirenum
plural
maria-
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.
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Compare terra
Etymology
Origin of mare1
First 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
Origin of mare2
First 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
Origin of mare3
First recorded in 1760–70; from Latin: literally, “sea”
Explanation
A mare is an adult female horse. If your new horse is a filly, a female baby horse, she'll grow up to be a mare. Horse experts have many words to distinguish the age and sex of their animals, from foal, for any newborn horse, to stallion, a full grown male, to colt, a young male horse. Mares are known for being more easy-going than stallions, and because they're equally fast and powerful, they're as likely as males to be used for racing. Another meaning of mare ("sea" in Latin) is "dark areas of the moon," once believed to be actual oceans.
Vocabulary lists containing mare
Horsin' Around
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Space Science (Astronomy) - Introductory
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The Moon – Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Another class of landforms, small mare ridges, has also been identified.
From Science Daily • Feb. 18, 2026
Mr Cameron added that the mare of the first animal they lost "went back on her own to the area she was last with her foal".
From BBC • Sep. 3, 2025
Constitution Hill fell for the second time in succession as star mare Lossiemouth landed the Aintree Hurdle, the feature race on day one of the Grand National meeting.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2025
The 5-year-old mare ran just off the leader and then made her move with about a sixteenth of a mile to go and just got up at the wire.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2025
I was so disoriented that I felt, rather than saw, the powerful penny-toned mare moving into place beside me.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
