Mary

From Middle English Marie, from Old French Marie, from Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία (María), Μαριάμ (Mariám), from Aramaic מַרְיָם (maryām) or Biblical Hebrew מִרְיָם (miryām), of uncertain meaning (see the Hebrew entry for more). Doublet of Miriam, Marie, Maria, and Mariah.

• Marie (Early New English)

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

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛɹ.i/

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈmeː.ɹi/
• (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmeəɹi/
• (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmiəɹi/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɹɪ/, /ˈmeɹe/
• (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmɜːɹɪ/
• Homophones: marry, Merry, merry (only in accents with the Mary–marry–merry merger)
• Rhymes: -ɛəɹi

Mary (plural Marys or Maries)

1. A female given name from Aramaic or Hebrew.
   • 1821, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto the Fifth: IV:

     I have a passion for the name of Mary,
     For once it was a magic sound to me:
     And still it half calls up the realm of fairy
     Where I beheld what never was to be.

   • 1830, Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Cottage Names:

     Mary, which is as common as a white violet, and like that has something indestructibly sweet and simple, and fit for all wear, high or low, suits the cottage or the palace, the garden or the field, the pretty and the ugly, the old and the young;

   • 1905 George M.Cohan, Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway, Mary is a Grand Old Name ( a song)

     For it was Mary; Mary / Plain as any name can be / But with propriety, society / Will say "Marie". / But it was Mary; Mary / Long before the fashions came / And there's something there that sounds so square / It's a grand old name.

   • 1996, Maeve Binchy, This Year It Will Be Different: A Christmas Treasury, Hachette UK, published 2008, →ISBN:

     They had called their children Ann, Mary, and John as a reaction against their own fancy tricksy names. Both mothers thought these names sadly unimaginative and each blamed the child of the other for the lack of vision and style.

3. (religion) The mother of Jesus, believed in Christianity and Islam to have been a virgin at his birth, and believed by some Christians to have been born herself without sin, to have ascended to Heaven without death, and to act as a sympathetic intermediary for believers.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 1:18, column 2:

     Now the birth of Jeſus Chriſt was on this wiſe: When as his mother Mary was eſpouſed to Joſeph (before they came together) ſhee was found with childe of the holy Ghoſt.

4. (biblical) Any of several other women in the New Testament, notably:
   1. Mary Magdalene, a disciple of Jesus.
   2. Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 10:41–42, column 1:

        And Jeſus anſwered, and ſaide vnto her, Martha, Martha, thou art carefull, and troubled about many things: But one thing is needefull, and Mary hath choſen that good part, which ſhall not bee taken away from her.

5. (Islam) The 19th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an, recounting the events leading up to the birth of Jesus.

   Synonym: Maryam

6. (chiefly US, gay slang) A term of address for a male homosexual. [1925]

   Synonyms: nancy, nan; see also Thesaurus:male homosexual

   • 1941, G. Legman, Sex Variants, volume II, page 1171:

     Note also that male homosexuals will call most anyone Bessie or Mary, e.g. ‘Oh, Bessie, you're a camp!’

   • 1985, W. Dynes, Homolexis, page 150:

     In America in the 1950s,... Mary was often used in the vocative to address any fellow homosexual (‘Well, Mary...’).

7. (Ireland, dated) A male middle name, given in honour of the Virgin Mary.

• In English, the given name was considered too sacred to use before the end of the 12th century. It was very popular from the 17th to the 20th century.

• (mother of Jesus): advocatrix, Blessed Virgin, Blessed Virgin Mary, Christotokos, Coredemptrix, Deipara, Holy Mary, Holy Mother, Holy Mother of God, Madonna, Maria, Mater Dei, Miriam, Morning Star, Mother of God, Mother of Mercy, Mother of Sorrows, New Eve, Our Lady, Our Lady of Dolors, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, Panagia, Queen of Heaven, Santa Maria, Saint Mary, Sorrowful Mother, Star of the Sea, Theotokos, the Virgin, Virgin Mary

• Amina

From Turkmen Mary. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Mary

2. A city, the capital of the region of Mary, in southeastern Turkmenistan.
4. A region in southeastern Turkmenistan.

• (historical names for the city): See Merv

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

From English Mary, from Old French Marie, from Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία (María), Μαριάμ (Mariám), from Aramaic מַרְיָם (maryām) or Hebrew מִרְיָם (miryām), of uncertain origin.

Mary

1. a female given name from English [in turn from Hebrew]

From English Mary. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

• IPA^(key): /mɛː⁵⁵ ɹiː²¹/

Mary

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, colloquial, euphemistic) sex doll; love doll (Classifier: 隻／只 c)
   • 2009 July 31, “周秀娜推出人型攬枕尹蓁希擔心男人有歪念”, in Wen Wei Po‎^[1], archived from the original on 13 February 2023:

     白韻琴就指人形攬枕如同吹氣公仔Mary，她笑說：「咁Mary醜樣D。」 [Cantonese, trad.]
     白韵琴就指人形揽枕如同吹气公仔Mary，她笑说：「咁Mary丑样D。」 [Cantonese, simp.]

     baak⁶ wan⁵ kam⁴ zau⁶ zi² jan⁴ jing⁴ laam² zam² jyu⁴ tung⁴ ceoi¹ hei³ gung¹ zai² me¹ ri⁴, taa¹ siu³ syut³: “gam² me¹ ri⁴ cau² joeng^6-2 di¹.” [Jyutping]

     Pamela Peck says that a dakimakura is just like a blow-up sex doll. She jokingly said that “Well, a sex doll is uglier”

   • 2017 December 24, “【Chill人生活】聖誕燈飾、倒數、禮物 邊樣最無謂？”, in Apple Daily‎^[2], archived from the original on 21 June 2021:

     Cherry指自己收過吹氣Mary，「淘寶訂嗰啲，明明個頭吹脹咗個頭都係咁跌落嚟，我落到樓下見到垃圾桶即刻dump咗佢。」 [Hong Kong Cantonese, trad.]
     Cherry指自己收过吹气Mary，「淘宝订嗰啲，明明个头吹胀咗个头都系咁跌落嚟，我落到楼下见到垃圾桶即刻dump咗佢。」 [Hong Kong Cantonese, simp.]

     Cherry zi² zi⁶ gei² sau¹ gwo³ ceoi¹ hei³ m¹ ri⁴, “tou⁴ bou² deng⁶ go² di¹, ming⁴ ming⁴ go³ tau⁴ ceoi¹ zoeng³ zo² go³ tau⁴ dou¹ hai⁶ gam² dit³ lok⁶ lai⁴, ngo⁵ lok⁶ dou³ lau⁴ haa⁶ gin³ dou^3-2 laap⁶ saap³ tung² zik¹ kaak¹ dam² zo² keoi⁵.” [Jyutping]

     Cherry said she has received an inflatable sex doll before. “The ones you get on Taobao, the head keeps falling off even it has been inflated. I threw it away once I got downstairs and saw a rubbish bin”

   • 2018 August 12, “布簾後的世界 非一般性商店 I”, in Sing Pao‎^[3], archived from the original on 1 October 2024, page B08:

     無論如何，如果認為性商店只有震蛋、假陽具、Mary和避孕套，就只能說一句「少年，你太年輕了」。 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
     无论如何，如果认为性商店只有震蛋、假阳具、Mary和避孕套，就只能说一句「少年，你太年轻了」。 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]

     mou⁴ leon⁶ jyu⁴ ho⁴, jyu⁴ gwo² jing⁶ wai⁴ sing³ soeng¹ dim³ zi² jau⁵ zan³ daan^6-2, gaa² joeng⁴ geoi⁶, me¹ ri⁴ wo⁴ bei⁶ jan⁶ tou³, zau⁶ zi² nang⁴ syut³ jat¹ geoi³ “siu³ nin⁴, nei⁵ taai³ nin⁴ heng¹ liu⁵”. [Jyutping]

     In any case, if you think sex shops only have vibrators, dildos, sex dolls and condoms, then one could only say that you're too naive.

   • 2020 November 26, “是枝裕和電影《援膠女郎》變真人真事　哈薩克健身教練娶吹氣公仔”, in 《香港01》‎^[4]:

     想不到現實生活中，亦有位男子愛上私家「Mary」，二人結成正式夫婦，男方仲話「太太」有正當職業，平時會講粗口，果真戲如人生。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     想不到现实生活中，亦有位男子爱上私家「Mary」，二人结成正式夫妇，男方仲话「太太」有正当职业，平时会讲粗口，果真戏如人生。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     soeng² bat¹ dou³ jin⁶ sat⁶ sang¹ wut⁶ zung¹, jik⁶ jau⁵ wai⁶ naam⁴ zi² oi³ soeng⁶ si¹ gaa¹ “me¹ ri⁴”, ji⁶ jan⁴ git³ sing⁴ zing³ sik¹ fu¹ fu⁵, naam⁴ fong¹ zung⁶ waa⁶ “taai³ taai^3-2” jau⁵ zing³ dong¹ zik¹ jip⁶, ping⁴ si⁴ wui⁵ gong² cou¹ hau², gwo² zan¹ hei³ jyu⁴ jan⁴ saang¹. [Jyutping]

     One could not expect that there was also a man who fall in love with his private sex doll in real life. They are married officially, the man even said his “wife” has a proper job and often swears. Indeed life is like a box of chocolates.

From English Mary. A variant of the traditional Danish Marie.

Mary

1. a female given name

• [5] Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 20 092 females with the given name Mary have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1900s decade. Accessed on 10 August 2011.

From English Mary. A variant of the traditional Norwegian Maria or Marie.

Mary

1. a female given name

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• [6] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 4 879 females with the given name Mary living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak around 1920 . Accessed on 10 August 2011.

From English Mary as a variant of the traditional Swedish Maria. First recorded as a Swedish given name in 1808.

• Audio:

  (file)

Mary c (genitive Marys)

1. a female given name
   • 2004, Majgull Axelsson, Den jag aldrig var, Prisma, →ISBN, page 17:

     Hon visste att hon hade vuxit upp i ett vitt hus, att hennes mor hade döpt henne till Mary och att hennes far hade kallat henne Marie och att hon långt upp i tonåren hade lekt att hon levde två liv, att hon hade ett andra jag som vaknade när hon somnade och somnade nät hon vaknade.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN
• [7] Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 10 519 females with the given name Mary living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1920s. Accessed on 10 August 2011.

• myra

Borrowed from English Mary. Doublet of Maria.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɾi/ [ˈmɛː.ɾɪ]
• Rhymes: -eɾi
• Syllabification: Ma‧ry

Mary (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜇᜒ)

1. a female given name from English

Mary (Cyrillic Мары)

1. Mary (a city, the capital of the region of Mary, in southeastern Turkmenistan)
2. Mary (a region in southeastern Turkmenistan)