From Mary ("female name").

• • (nMmmm) IPA: /ˈmɛɚ.i/
  • (Mmmm) IPA: /ˈmɛɹ.i/

mary (plural marys)

1. Alternative case form of Mary

• see Thesaurus:male homosexual

1. Alternative form of marry#Interjection
   • 1549 April 29 (Gregorian calendar), Hughe Latymer [i.e., Hugh Latimer], Augustine Bernher, compiler, “[27 Sermons Preached by the Ryght Reuerende Father in God and Constant Matir of Iesus Christe, Maister Hugh Latimer, […].] The Seuenth Sermon of Maister Hugh Latymer, which He Preached before King Edward [VI], the .19. Day of Aprill.”, in Certayn Godly Sermons, Made uppon the Lords Prayer, […], London: […] John Day, […], published 1562, →OCLC ↗, folio 93, recto ↗:

     You that be of the court, & eſpecially ye ſworn chaplains beware of a leſſon that a great man taught me at my firſt coming to the court he told me for a good will, he thoughte it wel. He ſayd vnto me. You muſt beware how ſo euer ye do that ye cõtrary not the king, let him haue his ſaiyngs, folow him, go with him. Mary out vpon this counſel, ſhal I ſay, as he ſayes?

   • c. 1570s – 1580 (date written), [Philip Sidney], “The Thirde Eglogues”, in [T]he Countess of Pembrookes Arcadia [The Old Arcadia], folio 123, verso ↗, lines 3–7:

     And I pray thee (ſayde Pas,) gentle Nico, tell mee what miſchaunce yt was that broughte thee to taſte ſo fyne a Meate? Mary goodman Blockhead (ſayde Nico) bycauſe hee ſpeakes ageanſt Jeloſy, the filthy Treytor to true affection, and yet diſguyſing yt ſelf in the rayment of Love.

     For a transcription, see: Albert Feuillerat, editor (1926), “The Third Book”, in The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia: Being the Original Version […] (Cambridge English Classics; The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; IV), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, →OCLC ↗, page 232 ↗.

From Middle English Marie, from Old French Marie, from Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία, Μαριάμ, from Aramaic מַרְיָם or hbo מִרְיָם, of uncertain meaning (see the Hebrew entry for more).

• (RP) IPA: /ˈmɛə.ɹi/
  • (nMmmm) IPA: /ˈmɛɚ.i/
  • (Mmmm) IPA: /ˈmɛɹ.i/
• (Australia) IPA: /ˈmeː.ɹi/

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. (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.

3. (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.

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

   Synonyms: Maryam

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

   Synonyms: nancy, nan, 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...’).

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

• (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

• Maire
• Mae
• Mamie
• Maria

• Mariah
• Marian
• Mariana
• Marianne
• Marie
• Marilyn
• Marion
• Marisa
• Marissa
• Marlene
• Maryann
• Maryam
• Maureen
• May
• Maya
• Mayme
• Mia
• Moira
• Mollie
• Molly
• Mya
• Polly

• French: Marie
• German: Maria
• Italian: Maria
• Portuguese: Maria
• Russian: (cognate) Мари́я
• Spanish: María

• Modern: Marie

• German: Maria
• Italian: Maria
• Portuguese: Maria
• Russian: Мари́я
• Spanish: María

From Turkmen Mary.

1. A city in Turkmenistan.
2. A region in southeastern Turkmenistan around the city.

• (historical names for the city) See Merv

• Merv