Old English mersc-mealwe "kind of mallow plant (Althea officinalis) which grows near salt marshes;" from marsh + mallow. The confection (so called from 1877) originally was made from paste from the mucilaginous roots of this plant. The Greek word for the shrub, althaea, is from althein, althainein "to heal, get well" (the roots were used medicinally), from PIE root *al- (2) "to grow, nourish."
"of or pertaining to the implacental mammals," who usually are provided with a pouch for their young, 1690s, with -al (1) + Modern Latin marsupialis "having a pouch," coined from Late Latin marsupium "pouch, purse" (Classical Latin marsuppium), from Greek marsipion, diminutive of marsipos, marsippos "bag, pouch, purse," a word of foreign or Pre-Greek origin. As a noun, "a marsupial animal, an implacental didelphian mammal," from 1805.
also Marseille, city in southern France, from French Marseille, ultimately from Greek Massilia, which is probably from a pre-Latin language of Italy, perhaps Ligurian mas "spring." Related: Massilian "of or belonging to Marseilles."
kind of white wine, 1806, named for the seaport town on the west coast of Sicily, in the region where it is produced, the name of which is said to be from Arabic Mirsa-llahi, literally "the Port of God."
French national republican song, 1826, from fem. of adjective Marseillais "of Marseilles." The tune originally was "War Song for the Rhine Army," composed (for the Strasbourg volunteers) by royalist officer Capt. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (1760-1836); the current name is because it was sung enthusiastically by soldiers from Marseilles advancing on the Tuileries, Aug. 10, 1792. However, during the Revolution, the city was punished for its royalist Sympathies by being stripped of its name and called instead Ville-sans-Nom "city without a name" (which is, of course, a name).
surname, from marshal (n.). The city in Texas, U.S., was named in 1841 for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall (1755-1835). The Marshall Plan, "U.S. assistance to aid certain Western European nations recovering from World War II," is from 1947, named for its initiator, George C. Marshall (1880-1959), who was U.S. Secretary of State 1947-49. The Marshall Islands in the western Pacific were explored in 1788 by British naval captains John Marshall (1748-1819) and Thomas Gilbert, and named for the former (for the latter, see Kiribati). Related: Marshallese.
