Māra

[ mahr-uh ]

noun
  1. Hindu Mythology. the god of death, sometimes seen as one aspect of a god whose other aspect is Kama, or erotic desire.

  2. Buddhism. Satan, who tried to seduce the Buddha at the time of his Enlightenment.

Words Nearby Māra

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Māra in a sentence

  • Madame Mara, the celebrated vocalist, took leave of the English stage.

  • Conna-mara, in the west of Ireland, properly spelled Cuan na mara, means "bays of the sea."

  • It endeavoured to smother sleepers like the Scandinavian hag Mara, and similarly deprived them of power to move.

    Myths of Babylonia and Assyria | Donald A. Mackenzie
  • The candle came floating toward us through the dark, and in a few moments Adam and Eve and Mara were with us.

    Lilith | George MacDonald
  • Adam and Eve stood before me the angels of the resurrection, and Mara was the Magdalene with them at the sepulchre.

    Lilith | George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for mara (1 of 2)

mara1

/ (məˈrɑː) /


noun
  1. a harelike South American rodent, Dolichotis patagonum, inhabiting the pampas of Argentina: family Caviidae (cavies)

Origin of mara

1
from American Spanish mará, perhaps of Araucanian origin

British Dictionary definitions for mara (2 of 2)

mara2

/ (Spanish maˈra) /


noun
  1. one of several organized criminal gangs of Central American origin also operating in the US

Origin of mara

2
C20: from Spanish: gang

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012