Etymograph

English

mara

Mara comes from Old Norse mara ‘nightmare, incubus’, from Proto-Germanic *marǭ ‘evil (female) spirit’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mor-‘malicious female spirit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*marǭ‘evil (female) spirit’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350mara‘nightmare, incubus’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1996mara

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mor-‘malicious female spirit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*marǭ‘evil (female) spirit’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350mara‘nightmare, incubus’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1996mara

Earliest quotation: 1996, Catharina Raudvere, Miranda Green: “The corpus of related texts tells us that within…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’

remember, murder, march, mere, marine, mortality, mortal, maritime, mortar, moor, muller, morbid, marsh, mort, morn, ambrosia, moribund, marinate, cormorant, marinara, amaranth, maar, 61 more

through Proto-Germanic *marǭ ‘evil (female) spirit’

nightmare, mare

Another origin of mara

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mór-o-sreconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*mā́rasreconstructed
  4. Proto-Indo-Aryanprehistoric (reconstructed)*mā́rasreconstructed
  5. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEमारmāra‘killing, destroying’
  6. Englishtodaymara

Another origin of mara

  1. Spanishc. 1500–presentmara
  2. Englishtodaymara

Today it means

noun A nightmare; a spectre or wraith-like creature in Germanic and particularly Scandinavian folklore; a female demon who torments people in sleep by crouching on their chests or stomachs, or by causing terrifying visions.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mer- / mara

Shirt and support for this word