Maar

See also: maar, määr, and mår

German

Drei Maare im Naturschutzgebiet Dauner Maare in Rheinland-Pfalz.

Das Weinfelder Maar, auch Totenmaar genannt.

Alternative forms

Mar, Marh (obsolete)

Etymology

Attested since at least the 16th century, from an underlying Middle High German *mar(e). Adopted into scientific parlance during the 19th century from Central Franconian dialects of the Eifel region, home to many maars, which often include the word in their names. The Central Franconian term also has the broader sense of “pool, cesspit, swamp”, which touches on Middle High German muor (“bog”) or is even merged with it (cf. Luxembourgish Muer and Mouer). Further origin uncertain, but surely related with the root of Meer and Moor. Plausibly a borrowing from Latin mare, perhaps through Vulgar Latin mara.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /maːr/, [maː(ɐ̯)], [maːʁ]
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -aːɐ̯
Homophone: Mahr

Noun

Maar n (strong, genitive Maares or Maars, plural Maare)

(geology) maar (broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption)
Hyponyms: Trockenmaar, Maarsee

Declension

Declension of Maar [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Maar	die	Maare
genitive	eines	des	Maares, Maars	der	Maare
dative	einem	dem	Maar, Maare¹	den	Maaren
accusative	ein	das	Maar	die	Maare

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

Descendants

→ English: maar