mar

Definition

To spoil; to ruin; to scathe; to damage.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English merren, from Old English mierran (“to mar, disturb, confuse; scatter, squander, waste; upset, hinder, obstruct; err”), from Proto-Germanic *marzijaną (“to disturb, hinder”), from Proto-Indo-European *mers- (“to annoy, disturb, neglect, forget, ignore”). Cognate with Scots mer, mar (“to obstruct, impede, spoil, ruin”), Dutch marren (“to push along, delay, hinder”), dialectal German merren (“to entangle”), Icelandic merja (“to bruise, crush”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (marzjan, “to annoy, bother, disturb, offend”), Lithuanian miršti (“to forget, lose, become oblivious, die”), Armenian մոռանալ (moṙanal, “to forget, fail”), Sanskrit मृष् (mṛṣ, “forget, neglect”).

Example Sentences

• "[…] and putteth ether many a good mā by ignorance in ieopardy of his life, or marreth good medicines to the great diſhoneſtie both of the Phiſician and of Goddes worthy creatures, the herbes and medecines:"
• "Prospero: […]huſh, and be mute / Or elſe our ſpell is mar'd."
• "Ire, envy, and despair / Marred all his borrowed visage, and betrayed / Him counterfeit."