English

Proper noun

Mary ‎(plural Marys)

1. A female given name.
   • 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.

2. The Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ.
   • 1611, Bible (KJV), Matthew 1:18::

     Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

3. The 19th sura (chapter) of the Quran
4. Any of several other women in the New Testament, notably Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha.
   • 1611, Bible (KJV), Luke 10:41::

     Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

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

Usage notes

• 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.

Derived terms

Coordinate terms

• Amina

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• army, Army
• Myra

Danish

Etymology

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

Proper noun

Mary

1. A female given name.

References

• 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.

Norwegian

Etymology

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

Proper noun

Mary

1. A female given name.

References

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, ISBN 82-521-4483-7
• 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.

Swedish

Etymology

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

Proper noun

Mary

1. A female given name.
   • 2004 Majgull Axelsson, Den jag aldrig var, Prisma, ISBN 9151843161, 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.

References

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, ISBN 91-21-10937-0
• Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, ISBN 9119551622: 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.

English

Noun

mary ‎(plural marys)

1. (gay slang, chiefly US) A male homosexual.

Anagrams

• army, Army
• Myra

Middle French

Alternative forms

• mari

Noun

mary m (plural marys)

1. husband

Descendants

• French: mari

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmarɨ/

Noun

mary

1. genitive singular of mara
2. nominative plural of mara
3. accusative plural of mara
4. vocative plural of mara