marrant (French)

Where does "marrant" come from?

The French adjective 'marrant' is formed from '(se) marrer' combined with the suffix '-ant'[1]. The verb '(se) marrer' was likely borrowed from Spanish 'marear', meaning 'to get dizzy', which shifted in meaning to 'to be bored' and then through antiphrasis to 'to be amused'[2]. Spanish 'marear' comes from 'marea'[3], meaning 'tide', which was borrowed from French 'marée'[4]. This French term ultimately traces back through Latin 'mare' and Proto-Italic '*mari' to the Proto-Indo-European root '*móri'[5][6].

Open questions

• The derivation of marrer from Spanish marear is considered probable rather than certain. [2]

Full etymology tree

• marrant (French), 'funny, amusing'
  • derived marrer (French), 'to laugh; to be amused'
    • borrowed marear (Spanish), 'to get dizzy'
      • derived marea (Spanish), 'tide'
        • borrowed marée (French), 'tide'
          • derived mer (French), 'sea (large body of water)'
            • inherited mare (Latin), 'sea'
              • inherited *mari (Proto-Italic), 'sea'
                • inherited *móri (Proto-Indo-European), 'sea'
      • suffix -ar (Spanish), 'forms first conjugation verbs indicating an action related to the root word'
  • suffix -ant (French), '-ing; suffix denoting the gerund and present participle of a verb'

Ancestors

• marrer (French)
• -ant (French)

Related words

• drôle (French)

Sources

1. marrant (French) - Wiktionary
2. marrer (French) - Wiktionary
3. marear (Spanish) - Wiktionary
4. marea (Spanish) - Wiktionary
5. marée (French) - Wiktionary
6. mare (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris