"M" Word Origins

Marlboro

Origin

A simplified American spelling of Marlborough, the London street where the tobacco company's factory once stood.

Marlborough

Old English

From Old English marl (a type of clay-rich soil) plus burgh, "fortified town" — a place near marl deposits.

marlee

Origin

Variant of Marley.

marleigh

Origin

Variant of Marley.

Marlene

German

A German blend combining the names Maria and Magdalene.

Marley

Old English

An English surname originally taken from a place name meaning "pleasant clearing" or "boundary clearing" in Old English.

marlin

Origin

Shortened from marlinspike, a pointed tool used in ropework, because of the fish's similarly pointed snout.

Marlow

Old English

From Old English words meaning "lake" and "hill" — a hill by a pool or lake.

Marlowe

Origin

A variant spelling of the place name and surname Marlow.

marly

Origin

From marl plus the adjective-forming suffix -y, as in "clayey" or "sandy."

Marmaduke

Irish

Believed to come from the Irish name Máel Máedóc, meaning "devotee of Saint Máedóc."

marmalade

Latin

Traces back through French and Portuguese to a Latin word for a sweet apple, ultimately from Greek "meli" (honey) plus "melon" (apple) — the word originally meant quince jam.

Marne

French

From French Marne; in the sense of the German town and the place in Iowa named after it, from German Marne.

Marnie

Origin

Likely a shortened form of Marina or a pet form of Marian.

maron

Latin

Either from French marron or Italian marrone, both from Latin Marrones.

maroon

French

From French "marron" ("feral, runaway"), itself from Spanish "cimarrón" meaning wild or fugitive.

marplot

Origin

From mar (“to spoil, to ruin”) + plot (“plan”). In earliest use as a character name in The Busie Body, by Susanna Centlivre, in 1709. Compare addle-plot.

marque

Origin

Borrowed from French marque. Doublet of mark. Ultimately cognate with marquee.

marquee

French

From French "marquise," originally meaning a large officer's tent, itself linked to the word for a marchioness.

marquess

French

A variant of marquis; unusually for English, marquess ends in "-ess" yet refers to a man, since the "-ess" here comes from the French spelling rather than marking the feminine.

Marquez

Spanish

A Spanish patronymic surname derived from the given name Marcos.

marquis

Old French

From Old French "marchis," related to "march" in the sense of a border territory — a marquis was originally a lord who guarded the borders of a kingdom.

marquisate

Origin

From marquis + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, the concrete charge of it), on the pattern of Middle French marquisat, Italian marchesato.

marquise

French

Borrowed directly from French, the feminine form of marquis.

Marr

Old Norse

* As a Scottish surname, from the district of Mar in Aberdeenshire, itself named after the clan (see also Clan Mar). * As an English surname, from placenames derived from Old Norse marr (“marsh, pool, fen”). * As a Chinese surname, Romanized from 馬 /马 (mǎ), see Ma.

Marrakech

Arabic

From Arabic, ultimately the source of the country name Morocco itself.

marred

Old English

The past form of the verb "mar," from Old English "mierran," meaning to hinder or disturb.

marredness

Origin

From marred + -ness.

marriage

Latin

From Old French "mariage," ultimately from Latin "maritare," "to give in marriage."

married

Origin

The past participle of the verb "marry."

Marriott

Middle English

From Middle English Mariot, a female given name.

marrow

Old English

From Old English "mearg," related to German "Mark" and ultimately to a very old Indo-European word also behind the Russian and Polish words for "brain."

marry

Latin

From Old French "marier," from Latin "maritare," related to "maritus" meaning husband.

Mars

Latin

From Latin "Mars," the Roman war god, ultimately from the older Old Latin form "Mavors."

Marsala

Arabic

Named after the Sicilian port city of Marsala, whose own name likely comes from Arabic for "Ali's harbor" or "God's harbor."

Marsden

Old English

From Old English mearc (“mark, sign; boundary”) + -s- + denu (“valley”).

Marseillaise

Origin · 1792

Named for the volunteers from Marseille who sang it marching into Paris in 1792.

Marseille

French

Borrowed from French Marseille (supplanting earlier Marseilles, derived from the Old French nominative form), from Latin Massilia, Marsilia, from Ancient Greek Μασσαλία (Massalía), probably from a pre-Latin language of Italy, perhaps Ancient Ligurian mas (“spring”). The r was probably retained from Arabic مَرْسَى (marsā, “harbor”).

Marseilles

French

Named after Marseille, the French port city where the fabric was originally produced.

marsh

Old English

From Old English mersc, related to "mere" (a lake or body of water) — a marsh is essentially land that never fully dries out.

Marshal

Old French

From Old French mareschal, originally meaning someone who looked after horses in a noble household — the job grew into overseeing armies and, eventually, ceremonies and law enforcement.

Marshall

Old French

From Old French "mareschal," originally meaning "one who tends horses."

marshmallow

Latin

Named for the marsh mallow plant — ancient confectioners made the original sweet from the plant's sticky root sap before switching to modern gelatin and sugar.

marshy

Origin

From Middle English mersshy, mershi, equivalent to marsh + -y.

Marston

Old English

From Old English mersc (“marsh”) + tūn (“enclosure, settlement”).

marsupial

Origin

From Latin marsupium, marsuppium (“pouch, purse”), from Ancient Greek μαρσύπιον (marsúpion) or μαρσύππιον (marsúppion), variants of μαρσίππιον (marsíppion), diminutive of μάρσιππος (mársippos, “bag, pouch”); with English -al.

mart

Latin

From Middle Dutch mart or markt ("market"), tracing back to Latin mercatus — the same root that gives us "market" and "merchant."

martel

Latin

From Old French martel, going back to Latin martulus, a diminutive of "hammer" — the same root gives French marteau.