English Reference

Word

mari

Phoneticsmari

/ˈmɑɹi/

Definition

n. an old word for a husband. It was used a long time ago in English but is not common today.

n. a husband. Primarily found in historical literature or legal contexts.

Examples

“The old story tells of a woman and her mari.”

“In certain historical legal documents, the term mari was used to identify the husband's role in a marriage contract.”

“The poet employed the archaic term mari to evoke a sense of medieval chivalry and tradition that modern vocabulary could not quite capture.”

Examples

simple

“The old story tells of a woman and her mari.”

contextual

“In certain historical legal documents, the term mari was used to identify the husband's role in a marriage contract.”

complex

“The poet employed the archaic term mari to evoke a sense of medieval chivalry and tradition that modern vocabulary could not quite capture.”

Usage

Archaic; almost entirely replaced by 'husband' in modern English.

Etymology

From Akkadian 𒈠𒌷𒆠 (ma-riᵏⁱ), from Mer, an ancient storm/patron deity of Mesopotamia and Syria. Also see Nûr-Mêr.

Borrowed from Western Mari мари (mari, “Mari language term for the Mari”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
C2 · Proficiency
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

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English Reference