mary

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Mary

Mary (plural Marys or Maries)

1. A female given name from Aramaic or Hebrew.
   • I have a passion for the name of Mary,
     For once it was a magic sound to me:
     And still it half calls up the realm of fairy
     Where I beheld what never was to be.1821, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto the Fifth: IV
   • Mary, which is as common as a white violet, and like that has something indestructibly sweet and simple, and fit for all wear, high or low, suits the cottage or the palace, the garden or the field, the pretty and the ugly, the old and the young;1830, Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Cottage Names
2. The mother of Jesus; believed in Christianity and Islam to have been a virgin, and believed by most Christians to have been born herself without sin, to have been assumed into Heaven without death, and to act as a sympathetic intercessor for believers.
   • Now the birth of Jeſus Chriſt was on this wiſe: When as his mother Mary was eſpouſed to Joſeph (before they came together) ſhee was found with childe of the holy Ghoſt.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 1:18, column 2

   Synonyms:

   advocatrix, Blessed Virgin, Blessed Virgin Mary, Christotokos, Coredemptrix, Deipara, Holy Mary, Holy Mother, Holy Mother of God, Madonna

3. Mary Magdalene, a disciple of Jesus.
4. Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha.
   • And Jeſus anſwered, and ſaide vnto her, Martha, Martha, thou art carefull, and troubled about many things: But one thing is needefull, and Mary hath choſen that good part, which ſhall not bee taken away from her.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 10:41–42, column 1
5. Synonym of Maryam (“The 19th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an”)

   Synonyms:

   Maryam

6. (US, slang) A term of address for a male homosexual.
   • Note also that male homosexuals will call most anyone Bessie or Mary, e.g. ‘Oh, Bessie, you're a camp!’[1941, G. Legman, Sex Variants, volume II, page 1171
   • In America in the 1950s,... Mary was often used in the vocative to address any fellow homosexual (‘Well, Mary...’).[1985, W. Dynes, Homolexis, page 150

   Synonyms:

   nancy, nan

7. (Ireland, dated) A male middle name, given in honour of the Virgin Mary.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Mary

IPA/ˈmɑ(ː).ɹɪ/

Mary

1. A city, the capital of the region of Mary, in southeastern Turkmenistan.

   Synonyms:

   Merv

2. A region in southeastern Turkmenistan.