noun
mara
MAH-ruh
noun
1
In Germanic and Scandinavian folklore, a demon or spirit believed to sit on a sleeper's chest and cause nightmares.
"Old Norse legend blamed nightmares on the mara pressing down on the sleeper."
2
A long-legged rodent native to the grasslands of Argentina, related to the guinea pig.
"The mara looks like a cross between a rabbit and a small deer."
How to Use Mara
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither the folkloric nightmare-demon, or the Patagonian rodent that shares its name.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
maras plural, maras plural, maras plural, maras plural, Maras plural
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Old Norse legend blamed nightmares on the _____ pressing down on the sleeper.
Etymology
From Old Norse mara — the same root that gives English "nightmare," since a "night-mare" was originally this very demon, not a horse.