mara
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mara¹
- /ˈmɑːɹə/
Rhymes with -ɑːɹə
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Old Norse mara, from Proto-Germanic *marǭ, cognate with Old English mare or mære. Doublet of mare. See nightmare.
noun maras
- 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. The corpus of related texts tells us that within rural society it was not improbable for your neighbour's envy of your fine cattle to take the form of a mara.
mara²
- /ˈmɑːɹə/
Rhymes with -ɑːɹə
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Sanskrit मार (māra).
noun maras
- A type of god that prevents accomplishment or success. Mara means demon, or demonic influence, that hinders the practice of virtue. It may be an external spirit or an aspect of our own imperfect condition. All hindrances on the path to liberation are subsumed under the four maras. The first mara is the mara of the aggregates.[…]The second of the maras i
- Any malicious or evil spirit. The mara is the spirit that causes illness, accidents, and mishaps. The only protection against it is another mara who befriends a person or a group. A mara who becomes friendly is called a gunik. This transformation occurs when a mara comes to a person in a dream and states a desire to be friendly.
mara³
- /ˈmɑːɹə/
Rhymes with -ɑːɹə
Where it comes from
From New World Spanish mara.
noun maras
- Any caviid rodent of the genus Dolichotis, common in the Patagonian steppes of Argentina. Maras have a white patch of fur on the rump that they flash when running, an adaptation they share with several species of deer and antelopes.
mara⁴
- /ˈmɑːɹə/
Rhymes with -ɑːɹə
noun maras
- A Latin American criminal gang.
Mara⁵
proper noun
- A Maran Australian Aboriginal prefixing language spoken in southeastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Mara⁶
Where it comes from
From Hebrew מָרָא (mara, “bitterness”), derived from Hebrew מַר (mar, “bitter”). The modern given name may also be shortened from Maria or Tamara.
proper noun
- A female given name from Hebrew. Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Mara⁷
Where it comes from
From O'Mara, a variant of O'Meara.
proper noun
- A surname from Irish.
Mara⁸
Where it comes from
From Sanskrit मर (mara), from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to die”). Doublet of mortality.
proper noun
- The Hindu god of death; opposite of Kama.
- The Buddhist demon who tempts people away from enlightenment
Mara⁹
proper noun
- The Slavic goddess of winter and death; Marena or Marzanna.
Mara10
noun Maras
-
A member of a predominantly agricultural tribe of southern Assam and western Burma.
Similar: Lakher
Mara11
proper noun the Mara
- A river in Tanzania and Kenya. In the dry season, when the Mara becomes narrower and shallower, certain stretches of it become especially thick with hippos—and their dung.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: dolichotis patagonum, jul, mrs, marra, ramallah, serengeti, shh, mary, malla, marat, night hag, marilith, maraka, demoness, macaria, moros
Translations
Talk about this word "mara." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mara. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mara. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mara "mara." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mara.Cite this
@misc{mara_2026,
title = {mara},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mara},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
