marla

See also: Marla, marła, and márla

English

Etymology 1

From Irish marla, from Middle English marle. Doublet of marl.

Noun

marla (uncountable)

1. (Ireland) Plasticine; modelling clay.
   • 1996, Thomas Kinsella, Model School, Inchicore: Collected Poems, 1956-1994, page 229:

     Miss Carney handed us out blank paper and marla,
     old plasticine with the colours
     all rolled together into brown.

   • 1997, Catherine Dunne, In the Beginning, page 107:

     As she sits and plays with Damien, she feels her legs start to tremble from the effort. Her knees seem to disappear.
     Plasticine legs, she says to Damien. Old marla legs.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Alternative forms

• mala, maala

Noun

marla (plural marlas)

1. (Australia) A rufous hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes hirsutus), a small desert marsupial of Australia.

References

• rufous hare-wallaby on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 3

Noun

marla (plural marlas)

1. A unit of area used in the Indian subcontinent, of varying size, but roughly 250 square feet.

Anagrams

• LRAAM, Lamar, alarm, malar, ramal

Irish

Alternative forms

• márla (superseded)

Etymology

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

Noun

marla m (genitive singular marla)

1. marl (mixed earthy substance)

   Synonym: móta liath

2. modeling clay, plasticine

Declension

Declension of marla (fourth declension, no plural)

bare forms case singular nominative marla vocative a mharla genitive marla dative marla forms with the definite article case singular nominative an marla genitive an mharla dative leis an marla don mharla

Derived terms

• marla buí (“yellow subsoil”)
• marla múnlaithe (“loam”)

Descendants

• → English: marla

Mutation

Mutated forms of marla

radical	lenition	eclipsis
marla	mharla	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “marla”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “marla”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 468
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “marla”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN