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mare

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mare¹

  • /ˈma.re/

Rhymes with -are

Where it comes from

Most likely inherited from Latin maiōrem, accusative singular of Latin maior, through a Common Romanian intermediate *maure, akin to Dalmatian maur. The shift from /au/ to /a/ is caused by syncope. Compare Aromanian mari, Megleno-Romanian mari, and the aforementioned Dalmatian maur. See also Portuguese mor, Logudorese mere and Campidanese meri. This would make the word a doublet of maior and major.

For other examples of this syncope in particular, see Romanian căta, regional variant of Romanian căuta, Sardinian laru (dialectal), from Latin laurus; Friulian fari, from Latin faber (unlike Ladin faure); et cetera.

An alternative, less likely theory proposes a derivation from Latin marem (“male”), with a semantic shift from "male" to "large", on an idiomatic basis (i.e. assuming that the expression "s-a făcut mare", meaning "[3rd-pers. sg.] grew up" [literally "made themselves big"] initially referred exclusively to boys becoming men, and that it shifted over time to refer more broadly to physical growth, and by extension, being large). Other theories include a derivation from its homonym mare (meaning sea), and a substrate origin (either Proto-Albanian or Thraco-Dacian).

adjective mari · mare · marele

  1. feminine, masculine, neuter big, large, great O mare mare.

    Opposite: mic

  2. feminine, masculine, neuter great, mighty Un om mare.

mare²

  • /ˈma.re/

Rhymes with -are

Where it comes from

From Latin mare, from Proto-Italic *mari, from Proto-Indo-European *móri.

noun mări · mare · marea · mările

  1. feminine sea Când am mers la mare, am înotat un pic și mai târziu am prins un pește mare.

Mare³

Where it comes from

From mare.

proper noun lui Mare

  1. masculine a surname

In English

  • big of a great size — see also large
  • high of great or large quantity
  • sea body of water
  • great very big, large scale
  • large of greater size — see also big
  • sensible easily perceived, appreciable
  • bulky large in size, mass, or volume

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Cite this
MLA

"mare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ro/mare. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

mare. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ro/mare

Chicago

"mare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ro/mare.

BibTeX
@misc{mare_2026,
  title = {mare},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ro/mare},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}