marine

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Relating to the sea or living in the sea.

   Whales and dolphins are marine animals.

2. 2
   noun

   A soldier trained to serve at sea and to land from ships.

   He served as a marine during the war.

Recorded since c.1420 as Middle English marin, borrowed from Middle French marin, from Old French, from Latin marinus (“of the sea”), itself from mare (“sea”), from Proto-Indo-European *móri (“body of water, lake”) (cognate with Old English mere (“sea, lake, pool, pond”), Dutch meer, German Meer, all from Proto-Germanic *mari). The modern pronunciation is presumably due to the influence of modern French marine, feminine singular of marin.

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