marine

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a member of the United States Marine Corps
  2. noun a soldier who serves both on shipboard and on land
  3. adjective of or relating to the sea

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

devil dog, leatherneck, shipboard soldier

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