▪ I. marl, n.1
(mɑːl)
Also (4 marll, 6 merle), 4–9 marle.
[a. OF. marle (still in dialects; replaced in mod.Fr. by the variant marne):—late L. margila (whence OHG. mergil, MHG., mod.G., Du. mergel (MDu. also marl from Fr.), Da. mergel, Sw. märgel), dim. of L. marga (whence It., Sp. marga), said by Pliny to be a Gaulish word.
It does not, however, occur in the mod. Celtic langs.: the alleged Breton marg does not correspond phonetically; the Breton merl is from Fr., and the Welsh marl and Irish and Gaelic marla are from English.]
1. A kind of soil consisting principally of clay mixed with carbonate of lime, forming a loose unconsolidated mass, valuable as a fertilizer.
The marl of lakes is ‘a white, chalky deposit consisting of the mouldering remains of Mollusca, Entomostraca, and partly of fresh-water algæ’ (Geikie in Encycl. Brit. X. 290/2).
| 1372 Durham Halmote Rolls (Surtees) 115 Quod nullus eorum permittat aliquibus capere marll. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 15 In þis ilond vnder þe torf of þe lond is good marl i-founde. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xiii. 231 Lond ouere-layde with marle and with donge. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. x. 25 For laak of donge in sondy lond be spronge Good marl. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 327/1 Marl, or chalke, creta. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §2 Some meane erthe, some medled with marle. 1530 Palsgr. 244/2 Merle ground, marle. 1669 W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 296 A more stiff clay or marle. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. IV. 10 Chalks, marles, and all such earths as ferment with vinegar, are nothing more than a composition of shells. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 183 Turnips form the basis of the Norfolk husbandry; and, in conjunction with marl, may be said ‘to have made the county’. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. ii. 67/2 Amber..occurs..in the Cretaceous marls of France and Germany. |
b. With qualifying word, e.g. an adj. of colour or a word denoting the composition, preponderant element, source, etc., as argillaceous marl, blue marl, calcareous marl, chalky marl, chloritic marl, clay marl, earth marl, gravel marl, green-sand marl, sand marl, sandy marl, sea marl, shell marl, white marl, yellow marl.
† cushat marl (see quot. 1682); dice or steel marl (see quots. 1682, 1766); delving or peat marl, flag, shale, slate, or stone marl (see quots. 1682, 1707, 1762). For chalk, lime, and paper marl see the prefixed words.
| 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 11 Claye marle, stone marle, lyme, sande, or gravell marle. Ibid. 71 Claye Marle soe called for difference betweene it and the sea marle. 1682 A. Martindale in J. Houghton Coll. Lett. Husb. & Trade I. 121 Cowshut-Marle (so called, as I suppose, for its resemblance in colour to Stock-doves, or Queoca, which the Vulgar in this Country call Cowshuts) being of a brownish colour, bespangled with blew veins... 2. Stone-Marle, or Shale-Marle... 3. Peat-Marle, or Delving-Marle, which is..very fat or unctuous... 4. Clay Marle, resembling it in colour, and in my Opinion, being of great affinity to Clay... 5. Steel-Marle in the bottom of some Pits, which of it self is apt to break into little Bodies almost Cubical. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. iii. 120 Harder, stony, slatty sorts of Marles, at some places called Slat, at others Dice-Marle. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 87 Stone, Slate, or Flag-marle, which is a kind of a soft Stone..of a blue or bluish Colour. 1762 Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. I. 38 The marle which is usually found at the depth of about two feet..in wet boggy grounds..is commonly called peat⁓marle, or delving-marle. 1766 Complete Farmer 5 M 2/2 Dice Marle, a name given by the people of Staffordshire to a reddish marle, that breaks into small square pieces like dice. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 293 Shell marle is found for the most part in small lakes. 1832 H. T. De la Beche Geol. 223 That the blue marls were deposited in a sea, perhaps somewhat similar to the Mediterranean. 1834 Brit. Husb. (L.U.K.) I. 309 For all practical purposes, it may be sufficient to divide it [shelly marl] into earth-marl and shell-marl. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 353/2 The Chloritic Marl in the Wealden district. |
c. red marl: (a) marl of a red colour; (b) reddle; (c) Geol. the New Red Sandstone.
| c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon (1810) 4 It consists of a red and blue marle. 1748 J. Hill Hist. Fossils 46 The Red Marles. Ibid. 47 Soft, heavy, red Marle, call'd Common Reddle. 1833 Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 333 A group of red marl and sandstone..is found in England interposed between the lias and the carboniferous strata. 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 62 On the south-east of Tamworth, the clearing away of the red marls reveals a coalfield. |
d. burning marl: used symbolically, after Milton, for the torments of Hell.
| 1667 Milton P.L. i. 296. 1814 Cary Dante's Inf. xvii. 30. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. viii. lxvi, It seems the unjoyous dissipation of demons, seeking diversion on the burning marl of perdition. |
2. poet. Used generically (like clay) for: Earth.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 33 To seize upon his foe flatt lying on the marle. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 66 To make account of her life to a clod of waiward marle? a 1770 Akenside Poems (1789) II. 56 Now, Hesper, guide my feet Down the red marle with moss o'ergrown. 1898 Hall Caine in Daily News 30 May 5 His feet laid hold of the marl and earth, his head was in the sky. |
3. Short for marl-brick.
| 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 187 The marls are made in the neighbourhood of London. 1855 F. Reinnel Masons, etc. Assist. 33 Marles, stocks, and place-bricks. |
4. attrib., as marl-bed, marl-brick, marl clay, marl-lake, marl soil, marl-stock; also marl-like adj.; marl-grass, Zigzag Clover, Trifolium medium; also Red Clover, T. pratense; marl slate Geol. (see quot. 1877); marl-stone Geol., argillaceous and ferruginous limestone, which lies between the upper and lower Lias of England. Also marl-pit.
| 1828 Fleming Hist. Anim. Kingd. 28 Bones of individuals [pigs] are occasionally found in *marl-beds. |
| a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1829) 45 A..great bed of sand..mixed with *marle-clay and stones. 1876 Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. xx. 411 Marl-clay..occurs as a whitish friable clay with an admixture of lime. |
| 1778 W. Hudson Flora Angl. 326 Trifolium alpestre..perennial Trefoil, Clover, or *Marle-grass. |
| 1875 Lyell's Princ. Geol. II. iii. xlviii. 573 A *marl-lake in Forfarshire. |
| 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 171 note, A sediment of one inch of impalpable *marle-like substance. |
| 1877 A. H. Green Phys. Geol. ii. §6. 72 If the rock [marl] splits into plates it is called *marl-slate. |
| ? 1842 E. J. Lance Cottage Farmer 6 Marsh, alluvial and *marl soils. |
| 1836 Penny Cycl. V. 409/1 *Marl stocks..differ from the bricks just described. |
| 1839 Ibid. XIV. 429/1 *Marlstone, sandy, calcareous, and irony strata, which divide the upper from the lower lias clays. |
▪ II. † marl, n.2 Obs. exc. dial.
Contraction of marvel n.1
| 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. iii. i, Your band, and cuffes,..'Tis mar'l you ha 'hem on now. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle Sat. v. 2132 Noe marle though he with drunkennesse dispence. 1746 Exmoor Scolding (E.D.S.) 130 Es marl who's more vor Rigging or Rumping..than thee art thyzel. 1886 Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk. s.v., 'Tis a marl, however 'twas, they had'n all bin a killed. |
▪ III. marl, n.3 dial.
(mɑːl)
Contraction of marble.
| 1860 Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. v, How stodgy they [a boy's pockets] look, Tom! Is it marls (marbles) or cobnuts? |
▪ IV. marl, n.4
(mɑːl)
[Reduced form of marbled ppl. a. 2.]
A yarn made from two different coloured threads twisted together so as to produce a mottled effect; the fabric produced from this yarn. Usu. attrib.
| 1892 Queen 5 Mar. p. xi (Advt.), Ladies write for Patterns of the entirely new designs in..Marls, Tweeds,..and Beiges. 1922 Daily Mail 18 Dec. 1 (Advt.), Knitted sports suit in rich Marl mixtures and plain colours. 1926 Illustr. Official Jrnl. (Patent Office) 20 Oct. 1668 Spinning marl or multi-ply yarns. 1968 E. Gale From Fibres to Fabrics iv. 45 Two marl threads are sometimes twisted together to form one yarn. 1970 A. M. Collier Handbk. Textiles iv. 88 A marl yarn is produced by combining two yarns of uneven thickness, with uneven rates of delivery so that there is excess material at intervals. |
▪ V. marl, v.1
(mɑːl)
Also (5 marly, 6 merl), 5–8 marle.
[f. marl n.1 Cf. F. marner, MDu. marlen, med.L. marlāre.]
1. trans. To apply marl to (ground); to fertilize or manure with marl.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 15 Euere þe þickere þe felde is i-marled, þe better corn it wil bere. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 576/23 Cretifico, to marly. 1538 Leland Itin. V. 90 The Sandy Grounde of sum Partes of Shropshire..wille not bere Corne plentifully but it be merlyd. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. ii. iv, Who would hold any Land To haue the trouble to marle it? 1882 Jessopp in 19th Cent. 748 It was a general practice to marl the land periodically. |
† b. To spread (marl) as manure. Obs.
| 1791 Trans. Soc. Arts IX. 82 If any good marl can be had..it should then be well marled upon the clover root. |
2. To enrich as with marl; to manure, fertilize.
| 1544 tr. Littleton's Tenures 16 Yf I delyuer to a man my shepe to dunge or marle his lande. a 1555 Bradford in Coverdale Lett. Martyrs (1564) 462 Yf god..beginne to mucke and marle you: to pour hys showers vpon you [etc.]. 1651 Ogilby æsop (1665) 135 Realms, marl'd and water'd with the fertile Nile. 1833 H. Coleridge Fields of Fame, Marl'd with bleaching bones. |
† 3. intr. To crumble away like marl. Obs.
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 70 Some advised to putte eight pownde of pitch to a gallon of tarre, but that is thought to make the markinge over brittle, and to breake sooner and marle away. |
▪ VI. marl, v.2
(mɑːl)
Also 5 marlyn, 8–9 marle.
[a. Du. and LG. marlen (whence Sw. märla, Da. merle), app. a frequentative f. MDu. merren to tie.]
† 1. trans. To tie, noose. Obs.—0
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 327/1 Marlyn, or snarlyn, illaqueo. |
2. Naut. To fasten with marline or small line; to secure together by a succession of half-hitches; to wind marline or other small stuff round (a rope), securing it with a hitch at each turn.
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. s.v. Marline, Marling a sail; is, when being so rip'd out of the Bolt Rope, that it cannot be sewed in again, the Sail is fasten'd by Marline..unto the Bolt Rope. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine ii. (1780), Merliner une voile, to marle a sail to it's foot-rope. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 482 The two edges were marled to two pieces of a hawser. c 1825 J. Choyce Log of Jack Tar (1891) 87 The catamarans were made of bundles of dry bulrushes well marled together. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 30 Marl them well down. |
▪ VII. † marl, v.3 Obs.—0
[Of obscure origin; cf. marill v.]
(See quots.)
| 1598 Florio, Carpionato pesce, fish that is marlde, as they vse at Hampton. 1611 Ibid., Accarpionare, to souse..fish with vinegre to bee eaten cold, to marle fish. |
▪ VIII. marl, v.4 Obs. exc. dial.
Also 7 mar'le, 7–9 marle.
Contraction of marvel v.
| 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. (Qo.) i. ii. 35, I marle, sir, you weare such ill-fauourd course stockings, hauing so good a legge as you haue. a 1627 Middleton Wom. beware Wom. i. ii, I mar'l my Guardianer do's not seek a wife for me. 1648 Maine Amorous Warre v. vii. 79, I mar'le, my Lord, Our Amazons appeare not. 1795 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Royal Tour Wks. 1812 III. 339 [They] marle that children talk as well as kings. 1822 Scott Nigel iii, ‘I marle the skipper took us on board’, said Richie. 1886 Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk., Marl. |
▪ IX. marl
dial.: see merelles.