How do you pronounce marl?

The recorded pronunciation is /mɑɹl/.

Where does marl come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

marl

/mɑɹl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.56 in modern English

Syllables: marl
IPA: /mɑɹl/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A mixed earthy substance, consisting of carbonate of lime, clay, and possibly sand, in very variable proportions, and accordingly designated as calcareous, clayey, or sandy.

Countable; Uncountable

verb

To cover (the ground) with marl (noun sense).

Transitive verb

verb

To cover, as part of a rope, with marline, marking a peculiar hitch at each turn to prevent unwinding.

noun

A species of bandicoot, Perameles myosurus, of southern Western Australia.

Australian usage

Example Sentences

"Marle is indeed, as it is in name, the fat or (marrovv) of the earth: […] it is therfore a fat, oyly and vnctious ground, lying in the belly of the earth, vvhich is of vvarme and moiſt temperature, and ſo moſt fertill, ſeeing that heat and moyſture be the father and mother of generation and grovvth; […] Foure ſorts of Marle be found in this VVeald, knovvne aſunder by the difference of colours, and thereby alſo differing in degrees of goodneſſe one from the other: […]"
"... uneasie steps / Over the burning Marle, not like those steps / On Heavens Azure..."
"Mr. Greenshields was the contractor selected to build the embankment, and over a hundred thousand tons of marl and moss compacted with brushwood were used in its construction."
"Important marl and marine-shell deposits are worked in Michigan, Virginia, and Florida."
"The surroundings were unearthly. It was not a fish setting—only bare rock, no trees, pungent sagebrush, and marl dust floating when a truck passed."
"Those loved unhappy shades whom Dante turned / To sticks and marl"

Etymology

From Middle English marle, from Old French marle, from Late Latin margila, diminutive of marga (“marl”). Doublet of marla.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: marle, margila, maarl

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /mɑɹl/
British English: /mɑːl/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Geology.

Inflected Forms

marls (plural) marle (alternative) marls (present, singular) marling (participle, present) marled (participle, past) marled (past)

Derived Forms

marlaceous marlacious Marlborough marler marlite marllike marlpit marlstone marly

Phrases

shell marl

Frequently Paired Words

greensand

Synonyms

marline western barred bandicoot

Rhymes With

carl karl snarl jarl harl gnarl ensnarl yarl