μᾶρον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Aramaic מַרְוָא / ܡܲܪܘܵܐ (marwā, “Origanum syriacum syn. Origanum maru”), an important ritual herb (☞ explained by Löw), from Middle Persian [script needed] (mlc' /⁠marw⁠/), related to Sanskrit मरुव (maruva, “marjoram”). Also found in Arabic مَرْو (marw, “fragrant herbs; pebbles; quartz”), مَرْدَقُوش (mardaqūš, “marjoram”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mâː.ron/ → /ˈma.ron/ → /ˈma.ron/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mâː.ron/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ron/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ron/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ron/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ron/

Noun

μᾶρον • (mâron) n (genitive μᾱ́ρου); second declension

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
   1. Syrian oregano (Origanum syriacum)
   2. showy pink oregano (Origanum sipyleum syns. Thymus sipyleus, Sideritis sipylea, Amaracus sipyleus)
   3. cat thyme (Teucrium marum)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ μᾶρον; τοῦ μᾱ́ρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ μᾶρον tò mâron	τὼ μᾱ́ρω tṑ mā́rō	τᾰ̀ μᾶρᾰ tà mâra
Genitive	τοῦ μᾱ́ρου toû mā́rou	τοῖν μᾱ́ροιν toîn mā́roin	τῶν μᾱ́ρων tôn mā́rōn
Dative	τῷ μᾱ́ρῳ tôi mā́rōi	τοῖν μᾱ́ροιν toîn mā́roin	τοῖς μᾱ́ροις toîs mā́rois
Accusative	τὸ μᾶρον tò mâron	τὼ μᾱ́ρω tṑ mā́rō	τᾰ̀ μᾶρᾰ tà mâra
Vocative	μᾶρον mâron	μᾱ́ρω mā́rō	μᾶρᾰ mâra
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Arabic: مَارُون (mārūn)
• → Latin: marum

See also

• ὀρίγανον (oríganon)
• ὕσσωπος (hússōpos)
• σισύμβριον (sisúmbrion)

Further reading

• “μᾶρον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• μᾶρον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 96 seqq.
• “mâron μᾶρον – Thymus sipyleus”, in Dioscórides Interactivo‎^[2] (in Spanish), 2024