mare
An adult female horse.
Etymology
Modern English mare comes from Old English meare "female horse," from Proto-Germanic *marhijō, the feminine form of *marhaz "horse," from PIE (or possibly a pre-Celtic substrate) *marko- meaning "horse." The masculine form survives in English as the now-archaic marshal — from Frankish *marhskalk, literally "horse-servant," someone who tended horses before the word was elevated to mean a high military commander. The root also appears in Old Irish marc "horse," Welsh march "stallion," and Gaulish personal names like Epomarcus. Some scholars consider this a wandering word that may not be originally Indo-European but was borrowed into PIE from a neighbouring language family. German Mähre "old horse" preserves the word with a somewhat derogatory flavour. The English nightmare has nothing to do with female horses — its mare comes from Old English mara "incubus, evil spirit."
The Journey: *h₁éḱwos → mare
*marko-
*marhijō
meare
mare
mare
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *h₁éḱwos. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Old Irish | marc | horse |
| Welsh | march | stallion |
| Old Norse | marr | horse |
| German | Mähre | old horse |
| Gaulish | marco- | horse (in names) |
Did You Know?
The word marshal literally means "horse-servant" — from the same root as mare. A Frankish *marhskalk (horse + servant) was originally a stable groom before the title was promoted to the highest military rank. Meanwhile, nightmare has nothing to do with horses: its -mare comes from Old English mara "evil spirit."