English
marinate
Marinate may come from French mariner ‘to marinate’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmariner‘to marinate’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1992marinate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmariner‘to marinate’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1992marinate
Earliest quotation: 1992, Laura Potler, own private idaho: “oblucy: "vinegar... to marinate the scalp... oil... to lubricate…”
first attested First attested in 1645 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in 1645; adapted from either French mariner or the earlier attested Italian marinare (‘to pickle, marinate’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Late Latin marina (‘brine, salt water’), short for aqua marina (‘sea water’), from Latin marinus (‘marine, of the sea’), from Latin mare (‘the sea’) from Proto-Indo-European *móri (‘the sea’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘sea, lake, wetland’
remember, murder, mortality, nightmare, mortal, mortar, muller, morbid, mort, morn, mara, ambrosia, moribund, cormorant, marshy, 62 more
through Proto-Indo-European *móri ‘sea’
march, mere, marsh, moor, 17 more
through Latin mare ‘sea’
maritime, mare, maar, aquamarine, martingale, 12 more
through Latin marīnus ‘marine’
Today it means
verb To allow a sauce or flavoring mixture to absorb into something; to steep or soak something in a marinade to flavor or prepare it for cooking.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French mariner / marinate