verb (used with object), marred, mar·ring.
- to damage or spoil to a certain extent; render less perfect, attractive, useful, etc.; impair or spoil: That billboard mars the view. The holiday was marred by bad weather.
- to disfigure, deface, or scar: The scratch marred the table.
verb mars, marring or marred
- (tr) to cause harm to; spoil or impair
noun
- a disfiguring mark; blemish
abbreviation for
- March
adj.c.1200, from un- (1) “not” + past participle of mar. v.Old English merran (Anglian), mierran (West Saxon) “to waste, spoil,” from Proto-Germanic *marzjan (cf. Old Frisian meria, Old High German marren “to hinder, obstruct,” Gothic marzjan “to hinder, offend”), from PIE root *mers- “to trouble, confuse” (cf. Sanskrit mrsyate “forgets, neglects,” Lithuanian mirszati “to forget”). Related: Marred; marring.