mare

Etymology 1

From Middle English mare, mere, from Old English mīere (“female horse, mare”), from Proto-West Germanic *marhijā, from Proto-Germanic *marhijō (“female horse”), from *marhaz (“horse”). Cognates See also Scots mere, meir, mear (“mare”), North Frisian mar (“mare, horse”), West Frisian merje (“mare”), Dutch merrie (“mare”), Danish mær (“mare”), Swedish märr (“mare”), Icelandic meri (“mare”), German Mähre (“decrepit old horse”)), Old English mearh.

noun

1. An adult female horse.
2. (UK, derogatory, slang) A foolish woman.
   The silly mare phoned your mother, talking about applying for a mortgage, and we don't want that, do we? 2007, Hester Browne, Little Lady, Big Apple

Etymology 2

From Old English mare (“nightmare, monster”), from Proto-West Germanic *marā, from Proto-Germanic *marǭ (“nightmare, incubus”), from Proto-Indo-European *mor- (“feminine evil spirit”). Doublet of mara. Cognates Akin to Dutch (dial.) mare, German (dial.) Mahr, Old Norse mara ( > Danish mare, Swedish mara (“incubus, nightmare”); also Old Irish Morrígan (“phantom queen”), Albanian merë (“horror”), Polish zmora (“nightmare”), Czech mura (“nightmare, moth”), Greek Μόρα (Móra).

noun

1. (obsolete or historical) A type of evil spirit formerly thought to sit on the chest of a sleeping person; also, the feeling of suffocation felt during sleep, attributed to such a spirit.
2. (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial) A nightmare; a frustrating or terrible experience.
   I'm having a complete mare today.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin mare (“sea”). Doublet of mar and mere.

noun

1. (planetology) A large, dark plain, which may have the appearance of a sea, such as those on the Moon
2. (planetology) On Saturn's moon Titan, any of several lakes which are large expanses of what is thought to be liquid hydrocarbons.
   Kraken Mare (a lake of liquid hydrocarbons on Titan which is slightly larger than the Caspian Sea)

Etymology 4

See mayor.

noun

1. Obsolete form of mayor.
2. Obsolete form of mair.