▪ I. Mars
(mɑːz)
Also 4–5 Marcz, Marcs, Marce.
[a. L. Mārs (stem Mart-), app. a reduced form of the archaic Māvors (Māvort-). The Oscan name of the god, Māmers (Māmert-) is prob. cognate, at least so far as the first element is concerned.]
1. a. The Roman god of war; identified from an early period with the Greek Ares. Often, after Roman practice, used for: Warfare, warlike prowess, fortune in war.
camp or field of Mars, Mars' field, the Campus Martius at Rome. Mars' hill, hill of Mars, the Areopagus at Athens.
| c 1374 Chaucer Compl. Mars 75 (Harl.) Venus kyssith Mars [Camb. MS. Marcs] þe god of armes. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. vii. 11 (Skeat), I profered my body..that Mars shulde have juged the ende. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3905 Mars haþ euer ben frend to ȝour worþi lyne. 1590 C'tess Pembroke Antonie 1061 A man..In Marses schole who neuer lesson learn'd. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 57 An eye like Mars, to threaten or command. 1611 Bible Acts xvii. 22 Then Paul stood in the mids of Mars-hill. 1616 B. Holyday Persius Sat. v. (ed. 2) D 3, A third doth Mars-field wrastlings duely keepe [L. Hic campo indulget]. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 94 Bengala is a Province..peopled with Mahometans and Idolaters, addict to Mars and Merchandize. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Son of Mars, Soldier. 1715 Pope Iliad ii. 139 Ye sons of Mars! partake your leaders care. 1785 Burns Jolly Beggars, I am a son of Mars, who have been in many wars. |
b. allusively. A great warrior.
| 1569 Preston Cambyses 10 A manly Marsis heart he bare. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 101 The Black Prince, that yong Mars of men. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §134 (1810) 149 This Mars vanquished the Arragonois. |
2. a. Astr. The fourth planet in the order of distance from the sun, revolving in an orbit lying between that of the Earth and Jupiter.
the hill or plain of Mars: in Palmistry, the fleshy part of the thumb.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2589 Hypermn., A rede Mars was that tyme of the ȝere So feble that his maleyce is hym beraft. 1578 Banister Hist. Man iv. 62 b, That fleshy part of the thombe, which Palmesters do terme the hill of Mars. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. i. 206 Hel. You were borne vnder a charitable starre. Par. Vnder Mars I. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 15 Those who have Mars Lord in their Nativities, become either Souldiers or Trades-men. 1653 R. Sanders Physiogn. 56 Wee allow to Mars all that space within the Triangle, which is made by the line of the Liver, that of the Head, and that of Saturn; and we call that place the Plain of Mars,..the strongest place of the Hand. 1855 Tennyson Maud iii. vi. 13 [She] pointed to Mars As he glow'd like a ruddy shield on the Lion's breast. |
† b. Old Chem. The name of the metal iron. Obs.
crystals, salt, or vitriol of Mars: green vitriol, (ferrous sulphate). extract of Mars: ‘a tincture of a salt of iron’ (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1889). saffron of Mars, Mars' saffron: = ‘crocus of iron’ (see crocus 3).
| c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 274 Sol gold is,..Mars Iren Mercurie quyk siluer we clepe. 1676 Boyle New Exper. Fluids ii. in Phil. Trans. XI. 807 A Mass of Regulus made of Antimony without Mars. 1678 Salmon Lond. Disp. 836/2 Filings of Steel are digested in Spirit of Vitriol, to make Vitriol of Mars. Ibid., The Salt of Mars. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Crocus, Crocus martis aperiens, opening saffron of mars. 1758 [see Jupiter 2 b]. |
† c. Her. The name for the tincture red in blazoning by the names of the heavenly bodies. Obs.
| 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 67 The fielde is partie per Fesse, Saturne, and Mars. |
d. = Mars yellow: see 4.
| 1899 B. W. Warhurst Colour Dict. 47 Mars, dull deep yellow, also an orange. |
3. The proprietary name of a chocolate-covered bar with a toffee-like filling. Usu. in form Mars bar.
| 1932 Trade Marks Jrnl. 5 Oct. 1273 Mars,..a sweetmeat. Mars Confections Limited. 1943 Penguin New Writing XVI. (verso front cover, Advt.), Mars are made from the finest available materials—including chocolate.., glucose.., separated milk. 1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident ix. 112 Toppy gave the errand boy half a Mars bar he had in his pocket. 1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water xi. 45 He did that twenty years ago when you were wearing a Micky Mouse gas-mask and saving your coupons for a Mars bar. 1973 J. White Norfolk Child 176 But there were peppermints,..and, of course, Mars. We..cut them into slices to make them last longer; first we bit the toffee off the top of the slice, then we nibbled the chocolate round the edges, and last of all..the delicious honey-sweet centre. 1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon iii. 57 ‘I've got a can of sardines and two Mars Bars,’ I said. 1973 Times 20 Sept. 18/8 Getting an overweight patient to regulate his eating habit (using a knife and fork to eat a Mars Bar). |
4. attrib. and Comb., as Mars-adoring, Mars-beloved, Mars-daunting, Mars-like adjs.; Mars colours, as Mars brown, Mars red, Mars violet, Mars yellow, pigments prepared from earths, and coloured with iron oxide; † Mars-starred a., born under the planet Mars.
| a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 39/1 A *Mars-adoring brood is here. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 688 *Mars-daunting Martialist. |
| Ibid. ii. i. ii. Imposture 628 The valiant Heav'n-assisted sword Of *Mars-like Essex. |
| 1894 Athenæum 5 May 584/2 Her *mars-red gown over a yellow petticoat. |
| 1635 Heywood Hierarch. vi. 395 The Scythians (souldiers not to be despis'd) A *Mars-starr'd people. |
Add: [3.] b. Mars bar [rhyming slang], a scar.
| 1971 S. Houghton Current Prison Slang (manuscript) 14 Mars bar, scar. 1973 J. Patrick Glasgow Gang xiii. 117, I return..to rhyming slang... Scars were ‘Mars Bars’ and Mods were ‘Sods’. 1987 Observer 27 Dec. 3/6 He said ‘J’ had given the doctor a Mars bar (slang for scar). |
▪ II. Mars
obs. form of March n.2 (the month).