Bibliotheca Polyglotta

Essential to marr ‘rope’ is the ‘tightness’ with which it is twisted, hence the ‘strength’ that is needed to twist it and that the tightly twisted rope itself may represent, figuratively. Inner-Arabic evidence suggests logical precedence of ‘rope’ before ‘strength’. But Orel&Stolbova supply evidence from outside Sem that would favour ‘strength’ as the basic meaning. – Any relation with ↗murr ‘bitter’? Relation with marr‑ / marar‑ ‘to pass’ unlikely.

hist

▪ …

cogn

Akk marmaru (with redupl.) ‘healthy, strong’; cf. also Ḥrs merret ‘strength’ – Orel&Stolbova1994#1737. Cf. also marmāru ‘strong person’ – CAD.

disc

It looks as if either the ‘strength’ with which a rope is twisted, or the ‘rope’ that is twisted tightly, i.e., with strength, are the logical basis in Ar from which other values are derived. From ‘rope’: ‘to tie up a camel’ (with a rope), ‘to twist o.s. (like a rope) about s.o. = to wrestle, fight’, and perhaps also ‘firmness, determination, resoluteness’ (etc. – Kazimirski, at least, regards marīr in the sense of ^†‘résolution ferme et inébranlable’ as a figurative use of ^†‘ficelle ou corde mince, mais très-bien tressée et solide’). From ‘strength’: ‘to persist, persevere, keep (doing s.th.)’, hence ‘to last, endure, remain, stay’ in general; (if not from ‘rope’) the ‘vigor, energy, tenacity’ of the mind, hence a person’s ‘intelligence’, but also his/her ‘determination, resoluteness, steadiness, constancy’.
Is ‘strength’ logically prior to ‘(tightly twisted) rope’, or vice versa? Morphologically, marr ‘rope’ looks more basic than the words that connote ‘strength’ so that the latter seem to be derived from the former, not the other way round, which is the reason for making marr the lemma, not marīr.
▪ However, on account of the Akk and Hss evidence, which they parallel with Ar marīr, Orel&Stolbova reconstruct Sem *mar‑ ‘healthy, strong’ as the basic meaning. Outside Sem, the authors see a cognate in Hs māre ‘to recover’ (from WCh *mar‑ ‘dto.’). As a common ancestor of the Sem and WCh forms, they suggest AfrAs *mar‑ ‘to recover, be healthy’ – Orel&Stolbova1994#1737.
▪ Related to, or even forming one semantic unit with, the theme of ‘bitterness’ treated under ↗murr ?

west

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deriv

► marra, u, vb. I, ^†serrer et attacher avec une corde un chameau, etc. (Kazimirski1860): denominative from marr, or vice versa? – For other meanings ↗marr‑ / marar‑ and ↗murr.
► marrara, vb. II, ↗marr‑ / marar‑ and ↗murr.
► mārra, vb. III, ^†to twist o.s. about s.o. and turn him round to throw him down (Lane), lutter avec qn. corps à corps et chercher à le renverser par terre (Kazimirski1860). – For other meanings ↗marr‑ / marar‑.
► ʔamarra, vb. IV, ^†to twist tightly (a rope, a thread); hence also : to struggle or strive with s.o., twist about him, or twist his neck, to throw him down (Lane). – For other meanings ↗marr‑ / marar‑ and ↗murr.
► tamārra, vb. VI, to fight, contend, dispute (with each other), (Lane) to struggle or strive with each other, twisting the other’s neck to throw him down, (Kazimirski1860) lutter avec qn. corps à corps pour le renverser: from the idea of twisting, or rather from ‘bitter’ (*to engage in bitter, severe fight with s.o.)? – For other meanings ↗murr‑.
► imtarra, vb. VIII ↗marr‑ / marar‑.
► ĭstamarra vb. X, to last, endure, continue, go on; to remain, stay; to continue, persist, persevere, keep (doing s.th.), go on (doing s.th.), stick, adhere (to s.th.). ^†to become tightly twisted (Lane), être tordu avec force, recevoir quelques tours de plus pour être solide (se dit d'une corde) (Kazimirksi1860); hence/de là: to become strong, or firm, like a rope tightly twisted (tropical signification, from the twisting of a rope); hence: to become right after having been corrupt (one’s case or state of affairs), to repent and become good, righteous, virtuous (Lane); de là, on dit d’un homme: istamarrat marīratuhū il s’est raffermi ou rendu plus fort, plus ferme (Kazimirksi1860). – For other meanings ↗marr‑ / marar‑ and ↗murr.
► ^†marār Strick (Wahrmund1887)
► mirraẗ, n.f., pl. ʔamrār, ^†mirar strength, power, (Wahrmund1887) Verstand, Einsicht; gesundes Urtheil, (Kazimirksi1860) force de l’intelligence; fermeté, constance | ḏū mirraẗ puissant ou ferme, surnom de l’ange Gabriel: < ^†firm, strong twisting (Lane), tortis, tresse dont se compose une corde (Kazimirksi1860). – For other meanings ↗murr.
► marīr, adj., pl. marāʔirᵘ strong, firm, stubborn, tenacious, dogged, persistent, deep-seated, deep, profound (esp., of feelings); ^†résolution ferme et inébranlable [syn. ʕazīmaẗ) (Kazimirksi1860): fig. use of <^†ficelle ou corde mince, mais très-bien tressée et solide (Kazimirksi1860). – For other meanings ↗murr.
► marīraẗ, n.f., pl. marāʔirᵘ firmness; determination, resoluteness; vigor, energy, tenacity, doggedness; steadiness, constancy; ^†langer starker Strick (Wahrmund1887), ficelle ou corde longue, mince et solide; tresse, tortis dont se compose une corde (Kazimirksi1860)
► ^†mirrīraẗ, n. Absicht (Wahrmund1887)
► ^†murayr, n. 1 Scorsonère. 2 Hiéracium. 3 Souchet : plantes (Kazimirksi1860): probably rather related to ↗murr (‘bitter’) than to marr_1 (‘making tight, strong through twisting’).
► ĭstimrār X vn. duration, permanence, continuity, continuance, continuation, continued existence, survival; persistence | bi‑’st. continually, constantly; quwwat al-~, n., inertia, vis inertiae :
► ĭstimrāriyyaẗ, n. continuity: abstr. formation from ĭstimrār.
► ʔamarrᵘ, adj. firmer, stronger | al-ʔamarrāni the two bitter things (i.e., poverty and old age); qāsā l-ʔamarrayn to go through the worst, be exposed to greatest hardships: el. – For other meanings ↗murr.
► mustamirr, adj. lasting, permanent, enduring, constant, continual, uninterrupted, unceasing, incessant; continuous, unbroken: PA X.

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