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Mare vs Mire - What's the difference?

mare | mire |

As nouns the difference between mare and mire

is that mare is tide (periodic change of sea level) while mire is .

mare

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) mare, mere, from (etyl) mere, . Alternative etymology cites derivation via (etyl) mere, miere'', from (etyl) ), from (etyl) ''markos'' (compare (etyl) march), from Iranian ''marikas'' (compare Old Persian ''marikas'' 'male, manly'), from ''maryas'' (compare Avestan ''mairya'' 'man; male animal'); akin to Sanskrit ''máryas 'young man; stallion'. More at marry.

Noun

(en noun)
  • An adult female horse.
  • *
  • *:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶.
  • A foolish woman.
  • *2007 , Hester Browne, Little Lady, Big Apple
  • *:The silly mare phoned your mother, talking about applying for a mortgage, and we don't want that, do we?
    • Antonyms
    * stallion and gelding refer to adult male horses (a colt refers to an immature one)
    Coordinate terms
    * (adult female horse) foal and filly refer to younger horses, pony can refer to adult horses of either gender under a certain height.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) mare, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete, outside, dialects) A type of evil spirit thought to sit on the chest of a sleeping person; also the feeling of suffocation felt during sleep; a nightmare.
  • (UK, colloquial) (Shortening of (nightmare)) A nightmare; a frustrating or terrible experience.
    • I'm having a complete mare today.
    Derived terms
    * (l) * (l)

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (maria)
  • (planetology) A dark, large circular plain; a “sea”.
  • (planetology) On Saturn's moon Titan, a large expanse of what is thought to be liquid hydrocarbons.

    • Anagrams

    * English heteronyms ----

    mire

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) , whence Old English mos (English moss).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.
  • * When Caliban was lazy and neglected his work, Ariel (who was invisible to all eyes but Prospero’s) would come slyly and pinch him, and sometimes tumble him down in the mire .'' (, ''Tales from Shakespeare , Hatier, coll. « Les Classiques pour tous » n° 223, p. 51)
  • An undesirable situation, a predicament.
    • Synonyms
    * (deep mud) peatland, quag
    Hypernyms
    * (deep mud) wetland
    Hyponyms
    * (deep mud) bog, fen
    Derived terms
    * mire crow * mire drum * miry * in the mire * quagmire

    Verb

    (mir)
  • To weigh down.
  • To cause or permit to become stuck in mud; to plunge or fix in mud.
    • to mire a horse or wagon
  • To soil with mud or foul matter.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Smirched thus and mired with infamy.

    Etymology 2

    Perhaps related to Middle Dutch miere (Dutch mier). Cognate with Old Norse maurr, Danish myre. All probably from (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) An ant.

    • Anagrams

    * ----