1653: mare and march Jun 24, 2019

The word 'mare' dates back to Old English as a feminine word for 'horse'. Today, it means denotes a female horse but Old English had 3 grammatical genders, and 'mere' (mare) was merely the feminine equivalent for 'mearh' (horse). That word has since been usurped by 'horse', which also existed in Old English. Therefore, the Welsh word 'march' meaning 'stallion'—with no female equivalent—is one of its closest cognates, certainly outside of Germanic languages. See more on 'mare' in 'nightmare'.

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