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Origin and history of marsh

marsh(n.)

"tract of water-soaked or partially flooded land; wet, swampy ground; piece of low ground, usually more or less wet but often nearly dry at certain seasons," Middle English mersh, from Old English mersc, merisc "marsh, swamp," from Proto-Germanic *marisko (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon marsk "marsh," Middle Dutch mersch, Dutch mars, German Marsch, Danish marsk), probably from Proto-Germanic *mari- "sea" (from PIE root *mori- "body of water").

The vowel shift from -e- to -a- began in 15c. and is usual for -er- followed by a consonant: Compare darling (Middle English dereling, Old English deorling), far (Middle English fer, Old English feorr), mar (Middle English merren), hart (Middle English hert, Old English heorot). Marsh gas "methane generated by decaying matter in marshes" is attested by 1819.

Entries linking to marsh

darling(n.)

Middle English dereling, from Old English deorling, dyrling "one who is much beloved, a favorite," double diminutive of deor "dear" (see dear (adj.)). The vowel shift from -e- to -a- (16c.) is usual for -er- followed by a consonant (see marsh).

As an adjective "very dear, particularly beloved," from 1590s; in affected use, "sweetly charming" (1805). "It is better to be An olde mans derlyng, than a yong mans werlyng" (1562).

far(adj.)

Middle English fer, from Old English feorr "far, remote, distant," from Proto-Germanic *ferera- (cognates: Old Saxon fer, Old Frisian fer, Old Norse fjarre, Dutch ver, Old High German ferro, German fern), probably a development in western Proto-Germanic from the adverb (see far (adv.)). Far East "China, Japan, and surrounding regions" is from 1838.

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hart
Middle English hert, from Old English heorot "hart, stag, male of the red deer," from Proto-Germanic *herutaz (source also of Old Saxon hirot, Old Frisian and Dutch hert "stag, deer," Old High German hiruz, Old Norse hjörtr, German Hirsch "deer, stag, hart"), perhaps from PIE *ke
mar
Middle English merren "to deface, disfigure; impair in form or substance" (early 13c.), from Old English merran (Anglian), mierran (West Saxon) "to waste, spoil," from Proto-Germanic *marzjan (source also of Old Frisian meria, Old High German marren "to hinder, obstruct," Gothic
dark
Middle English derk, later dark, from Old English deorc "without light, lacking light or brightness (especially at night), obscure, gloomy;" figuratively "sad, cheerless; sinister, wicked," from Proto-Germanic *derkaz (source also of Old High German tarchanjan "to hide, conceal")
fen
"low land covered wholly or partly by water, a marsh abounding in coarse vegetation," Old English fenn "mud, mire, dirt;...fen, marsh, moor," from Proto-Germanic *fanja- "swamp, marsh" (source also of Old Saxon feni, Old Frisian fenne, Middle Dutch...venne, Dutch veen, Old High German fenna, German Fenn "marsh," Old Norse fen, Gothic fani "mud"), from PIE *poino-, from...root *pen- "swamp" (source also of Gaulish anam "water," Sanskrit pankah "bog, marsh, mud," Old Prussian pannean "swampland...
morass
"tract of wet, swampy ground," 1650s, from Dutch moeras "marsh, fen," from Middle Dutch marasch, from Old French marais "...marsh," from Frankish, possibly from West Germanic *marisk, from Proto-Germanic *mariskaz "like a lake," from *mari "sea"...
silt
fine sand or sediment deposited by seawater," probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Norwegian and Danish sylt "salt marsh...," Old Swedish sylta "mud"), or from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch silte, sulte "salt marsh, brine," from Proto-Germanic...
pteranodon
extinct flying reptile of the Cretaceous period, 1876 (Marsh), based on pterodactyl with the stem of Greek anodous "toothless...Marsh, "Principal Characters of American Pterodactyls," 1876]...
wine
Old English win "wine," from Proto-Germanic *winam (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German win, Old Norse vin, Dutch wijn, German Wein), an early borrowing from Latin vinum "wine," from PIE *uoin-a-, related to words for "wine" in other southern European languages
program
1630s, "public notice," from Late Latin programma "proclamation, edict," from Greek programma "a written public notice," from stem of prographein "to write publicly," from pro "forth" (see pro-) + graphein "to write" (see -graphy).  The meaning "written or printed list of pi
saloon
1728, an Englished or otherwise deformed variant of salon (q.v.), and originally meaning the same, "spacious room set apart for reception of company or artistic display." The specific sense of "large hall in a public place for entertainment or amusement" is from 1747; especially

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