mara — meaning in English

English meaning

• mara noun In Germanic and Scandinavian folklore, a demon or spirit believed to sit on a sleeper's chest and cause nightmares.
• mare noun An adult female horse.
• nightmare noun A frightening or unpleasant dream.

Senses

mara is used for these senses in English:

• mare (obsolete, or, historical) A type of evil spirit formerly thought to sit on the chest of a sleeping person; also, the feeling of suffocation felt during sleep, attributed to such a spirit.
• nightmare (now, rare) A demon or monster, thought to plague people while they slept and cause a feeling of suffocation and terror during sleep. [from 14th c.]

mara — full definition

1. noun In Germanic and Scandinavian folklore, a demon or spirit believed to sit on a sleeper's chest and cause nightmares.
2. noun A long-legged rodent native to the grasslands of Argentina, related to the guinea pig.

mare — full definition

1. noun An adult female horse.
2. noun A frustrating, chaotic, or downright terrible experience.
3. noun A large, dark, flat plain on the Moon or another planetary body, resembling a sea from a distance.

Related Swedish words