mare

¹

[ mair ]

noun

1. a fully mature female horse or other equine animal.

mare

²

[ mair ]

noun

, Obsolete.

1. nightmare ( def 3 ).

mare

³

[ mahr-ey, mair-ee ]

noun

, Astronomy.

, plural ma·ri·a [mahr, -ee-, uh, mair, -].

1. any of the several large, dark plains on the moon and Mars: Galileo believed that the lunar features were seas when he first saw them through a telescope.

mare

¹

/ mɛə /

noun

1. the adult female of a horse or zebra

mare

²

/ ˈmɑːreɪ; -rɪ /

noun

1. capital when part of a name any of a large number of huge dry plains on the surface of the moon, visible as dark markings and once thought to be seas: Mare Imbrium ( Sea of Showers )
2. a similar area on the surface of Mars, such as Mare Sirenum

mare

/ mä′rā /

, Plural maria mä′rē-ə

1. Any of the large, low-lying dark areas on the Moon or on Mars or other inner planets. The lunar maria are believed to consist of volcanic basalts, and many are believed to be basins formed initially by large impacts with meteoroids and later filled with lava flows.
2. Compare terra

Word History and Origins

Origin of mare¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, mere, mare, maire “horse for riding; beast of burden,” Old English mere, myre “mare”; cognate with Old Frisian merie, Dutch merrie, German Mähre, Old Norse merr; the feminine equivalents to Old English mearh, Old High German marah, march, Old Norse marr, Irish marc, “horse, steed”; marshal

Origin of mare²

First recorded before 900; Middle English mare “night goblin; incubus,” Old English mære, mare, mere “nightmare; monster that oppresses people in their sleep”; cognate with German Mahre, Old Norse mara; nightmare

Origin of mare³

First recorded in 1760–70; from Latin: literally, “sea”

Word History and Origins

Origin of mare¹

C12: from Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German mariha, Old Norse merr mare

Origin of mare²

from Latin: sea

Example Sentences

Stallion-mediated breeding is the preferred method used in horses for several reasons, one being that it's much easier to analyze a stallion's fertility than a mare's.

From Science Daily

The 5-year-old mare has been campaigned heavily running in her 41st lifetime race.

From Los Angeles Times

She was scheduled to have a showdown with Idiomatic, but last year’s champion mare suffered an injury and was retired.

From Los Angeles Times

The "mare" or sea was probably once an ocean, and is visible to the naked eye from Earth.

From BBC

The findings also show that the sex of the horse was not necessarily a factor in them being chosen for sacrifice, with genetic analysis showing one in three were mares.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• colt
• filly
• stallion