# mar

> English word · Verb · IPA /mɑː(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #5,233

## Definitions
1. To spoil; to ruin; to scathe; to damage.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English merren, from Old English mierran (“to mar, disturb, confuse; scatter, squander, waste; upset, hinder, obstruct; err”), from Proto-Germanic *marzijaną (“to disturb, hinder”), from Proto-Indo-European *mers- (“to annoy, disturb, neglect, forget, ignore”). Cognate with Scots mer, mar (“to obstruct, impede, spoil, ruin”), Dutch marren (“to push along, delay, hinder”), dialectal German merren (“to entangle”), Icelandic merja (“to bruise, crush”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (marzjan, “to annoy, bother, disturb, offend”), Lithuanian miršti (“to forget, lose, become oblivious, die”), Armenian մոռանալ (moṙanal, “to forget, fail”), Sanskrit मृष् (mṛṣ, “forget, neglect”).

## Easily confused with
- **my** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-my)
- **ME** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-me)
- **Mr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mr)
- **MS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-ms)
- **MM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mm)
- **MO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mo)
- **mi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mi)
- **MP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mp)
- **MD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-md)
- **MT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mt)
- **MG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mg)
- **MC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mc)
- **ML** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-ml)
- **MB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mb)
- **MN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mn)
- **mu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mu)
- **MK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mk)
- **MW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mw)
- **MV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mv)
- **MJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mar-vs-mj)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mar