Bibliotheca Polyglotta

Etymology still uncertain. An origin in a biconsonantal theme *mr ‘to brush with the fingers’ has been suggested by Ehret1989, while Dolgopolsky2012 reconstructed WSem *mrḫ ‘to smear’ < Nostr * ‘meŕûq˅ ‘to smear’.

hist

▪ …..

cogn

Hbr māraḥ ‘to rub’, Jib mirɜḫ ‘to throw sth. sticky on sth., smear (paint etc. on sth.) with one’s hands’ – Dolgopolsky2012#1485.

disc

Dolgopolsky2012#1485 reconstructs WSem *mrḫ ‘to smear’ and suggests that the theme goes back to Nostr *‘meŕûq˅ ‘to smear’ which, among others, also produced Idg *smeru‑ ‘ointment’, cf. Grk mýron ‘unguent, perfume, sweet oil’, Germ *smerwa‑ ‘fat, grease’ (cf. G schmieren, denominative of Schmer, Norw sm▪r ‘butter, fat’ – Kluge2002).
In contrast, Ehret1989 presents Ar maraḫ ¹ as an “extension” in “iterative” *ḥ‑ of a reconstructed biconsonantal root *mr‑ ‘to brush with the fingers’ (cf. ↗marr‑ / marar‑). – Other such extensions in Ar, as given by Ehret, are ^†mart‑ ‘to smooth’, ↗maraṯ‑, ^†marz‑ ‘to press slightly with the fingertips’, ^†mars‑ ‘to macerate and crush with the hand’ (↗tamarras‑), ↗maraš‑, ↗maraʕ‑, ^†marġ‑ ‘to anoint with oil’ (cf. also ↗√mrġ), ^†marq‑ ‘to scratch off the wool’ (cf. also ↗√mrq), and ^†mary‑ ‘to stroke the udder of the camel for milking’ (cf. also ↗√mry).

1. Original has “maraḥ ” (with ḥ). But this seems to be a typo since the meaning given is ‘to oil, anoint, rub with ointments; coat slightly with mud’.

west

–

deriv

► marraḫ , vb. II, = I.
► tamarraḫ , vb. V, to rub one’s skin with a liniment, oil o.s., anoint o.s. :.
► mariḫ, adj., soft; slack, flabby, flaccid :.
► marūḫ, n., liniment; salve, unguent, ointment :.

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