mara-mara

See also: maramara

Basque

FWOTD – 14 January 2025

Etymology

Reduplication.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maɾa maɾa/ [ma.ɾa ma.ɾa]
• Hyphenation: ma‧ra-ma‧ra

Ideophone

mara-mara

1. flowing or falling gently but copiously (said of snow, sweat, tears...)
   • 1912, Domingo Agirre, Garoa‎^[1], Durango: Florentino Elosu, page 158:

     ¡Ta nolakoak! Aitzari ere mara mara negar eragitekoak.

     Of course! The kind [of howling] that could make rocks cry copiously.

Further reading

• “mara-mara”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “mara-mara”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005