mara

plural maras

1. EuropeanartsA nightmare; a spectre or wraith-like creature in Germanic and particularly Scandinavian folklore; a female demon who torments people in sleep by crouching on their chests or stomachs, or by causing terrifying visions.

   The corpus of related texts tells us that within rural society it was not improbable for your neighbour's envy of your fine cattle to take the form of a mara.

   1996, Catharina Raudvere, “Now you see her, now you don't: some notes on the conception of female shape-shifters in Scandinavian traditions”, in Sandra Billington, Miranda Green, editors, The Concept of the Goddess, pages 41–55

plural maras

1. BuddhismA type of god that prevents accomplishment or success.

   1 more example

   Mara means demon, or demonic influence, that hinders the practice of virtue. It may be an external spirit or an aspect of our own imperfect condition. All hindrances on the path to liberation are subsumed under the four maras. The first mara is the mara of the aggregates.[…]The second of the maras is the mara of the afflictions, which are the same as the afflictive obstructions. They are identified as a mara because they precipitate all harmful actions, from malicious gossip to murder.[…]The third mara is Devaputra, literally "son of a god," an external troublemaker who specializes in interfering with beings who are endeavoring to achieve something positive.[…]The last mara is the mara of death.

   2011, Graham Woodhouse, Lobsang Gyatso, Tsongkhapa's Praise for Dependent Relativity, Wisdom Publications, page 20

2. BuddhismAny malicious or evil spirit.

   1 more example

   The mara is the spirit that causes illness, accidents, and mishaps. The only protection against it is another mara who befriends a person or a group. A mara who becomes friendly is called a gunik. This transformation occurs when a mara comes to a person in a dream and states a desire to be friendly. But there are deceitful maras who pretend to be friendly, yet will betray the person who trusts them.

   2002, Sarvananda Bluestone, The World Dream Book, page 73

plural maras

1. Any caviid rodent of the genus Dolichotis, common in the Patagonian steppes of Argentina.

   Although only Dolichotis, the Patagonian mara, is strongly cursorial, all caviids have certain features typical of cursorial mammals[…].

   2011, Terry A. Vaughan, James M. Ryan, Nicholas J. Czaplewski, Mammalogy, 5th edition, page 228

   2 more examples

   Maras have a white patch of fur on the rump that they flash when running, an adaptation they share with several species of deer and antelopes.

   1999, Michael A. Mares, editor, Encyclopedia of Deserts, Mara, page 349

   Maras (Dolichotis patagonum) are cursorial and prefer open areas with low vegetation for breeding and more barren sites for construction of communal dens (Taber and Macdonald 1992; Baldi 2007).

   2013, R. L. Honeycutt, “Chapter 3: Phylogenetics of Caviomorph Rodents and Genetic Perspectives on the Evolution of Sociality and Mating Systems in the Caviidae”, in José Roberto Moreira, Katia Maria P.M.B. Ferraz, Emilio A. Herrera, David W. Macdonald, editors, Capybara: Biology, Use and Conservation of an Exceptional Neotropical Species, page 70

plural maras

1. USA Latin American criminal gang.

1. A Maran Australian Aboriginal prefixing language spoken in southeastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

1. rareA female given name from Hebrew.

   Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ruth 1:20

1. A surname from Irish.

1. HinduismThe Hindu god of death; opposite of Kama.
2. BuddhismThe Buddhist demon who tempts people away from enlightenment

1. Slavic mythologyThe Slavic goddess of winter and death; Marena or Marzanna.

plural Maras

1. A member of a predominantly agricultural tribe of southern Assam and western Burma.

   Synonyms: Lakher

1. A river in Tanzania and Kenya.

   In the dry season, when the Mara becomes narrower and shallower, certain stretches of it become especially thick with hippos—and their dung.

   2018 May 16, Ed Yong, “Hippos Poop So Much That Sometimes All the Fish Die”, in The Atlantic