mary

See also: Mary, Marý, and máry

English

Etymology

From Mary (“female name”). Compare nan and nancy.

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: mârʹē
  • (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛɚ.i/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛɹ.i/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: marry, merry (both only in accents with the Mary-marry-merry merger)

Noun

mary (plural marys)

1. Alternative letter-case form of Mary (“male homosexual”).

Synonyms

• see Thesaurus:male homosexual

Interjection

mary

1. Alternative form of marry (“indeed, in truth”).
   • 1549 April 29 (Gregorian calendar), Hughe Latymer [i.e., Hugh Latimer], Augustine Bernher, compiler, “[27 Sermons Preached by the Ryght Reuerende Father in God and Constant Matir of Iesus Christe, Maister Hugh Latimer, […].] The Seuenth Sermon of Maister Hugh Latymer, which He Preached before King Edward [VI], the .19. Day of Aprill.”, in Certayn Godly Sermons, Made uppon the Lords Prayer, […], London: […] John Day, […], published 1562, →OCLC, folio 93, recto:

     You that be of the court, & eſpecially ye ſworn chaplains beware of a leſſon that a great man taught me at my firſt coming to the court he told me for a good will, he thoughte it wel. He ſayd vnto me. You muſt beware how ſo euer ye do that ye cõtrary not the king, let him haue his ſaiyngs, folow him, go with him. Mary out vpon this counſel, ſhal I ſay, as he ſayes?

   • c. 1570s – 1580 (date written), [Philip Sidney], “The Thirde Eglogues”, in [T]he Countess of Pembrookes Arcadia [The Old Arcadia], folio 123, verso, lines 3–7:

     And I pray thee (ſayde Pas,) gentle Nico, tell mee what miſchaunce yt was that broughte thee to taſte ſo fyne a Meate? Mary goodman Blockhead (ſayde Nico) bycauſe hee ſpeakes ageanſt Jeloſy, the filthy Treytor to true affection, and yet diſguyſing yt ſelf in the rayment of Love.

     For a transcription, see: Albert Feuillerat, editor (1926), “The Third Book”, in The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia: Being the Original Version […] (Cambridge English Classics; The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; IV), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, →OCLC, page 232.

   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], signature [E6], verso:

     Falst[aff] Fie, this is hot weather (gentlemen) haue you prouided me heere halfe a dozen ſufficient men? / Shal[low] Mary haue we ſir, will you ſit? / Falst. Let me ſee them I beſeech you. / Shall. Wheres the rowle? wheres the rowle? wheres the rowle? let me ſee, let me ſee, ſo, ſo, ſo, ſo, ſo (ſo, ſo) yea mary ſir, Rafe Mouldy, let them appeere as I call, let them do ſo, let thẽ do ſo, let me ſee, where is Mouldy?

Anagrams

• ARMY, Army, Mayr, Myra, Yarm, army, yarm

Middle English

Noun

mary

1. alternative form of marow

Middle French

Alternative forms

• mari

Noun

mary m (plural marys)

1. husband

Descendants

• French: mari

Polish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.rɘ/

• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /mɒ.rɨ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -arɘ
• Syllabification: ma‧ry

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Polish mary. Cognate with Czech máry and German Bahre.

Noun

mary nvir pl

1. (literary) bier (litter to transport the corpse of a dead person)

   Synonym: (obsolete) tragi

2. (literary) bier, catafalque (platform or stand where a body or coffin is placed)

   Synonym: katafalk

Declension

Declension of mary

	plural
nominative	mary
genitive	mar
dative	marom
accusative	mary
instrumental	marami
locative	marach
vocative	mary

Derived terms

verbs

• leżeć na marach impf
• ujrzeć kogoś na marach pf

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

mary f

1. inflection of mara:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Further reading

• mary in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• mary in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa; Stanisław Rospond; Witold Taszycki; Stefan Hrabec; Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023), “mary”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• Brückner, Aleksander (1927), “mary”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna