marl

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mäl, IPA^(key): /mɑːl/

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• (General American) enPR: märl, IPA^(key): /mɑɹl/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)l

From Middle English marle, from Old French marle, from Late Latin margila, diminutive of marga (“marl”).[1] Doublet of marla.

• marle

marl (countable and uncountable, plural marls)

1. A mixed earthy substance, consisting of carbonate of lime, clay, and possibly sand, in very variable proportions, and accordingly designated as calcareous, clayey, or sandy.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     ... uneasie steps / Over the burning Marle, not like those steps / On Heavens Azure...

   • 1955, Robert Herman Bogue, The chemistry of portland cement, page 39:

     Important marl and marine-shell deposits are worked in Michigan, Virginia, and Florida.

   • 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 231:

     The surroundings were unearthly. It was not a fish setting—only bare rock, no trees, pungent sagebrush, and marl dust floating when a truck passed.

   • 2004, Peter Porter, “Why Did Dante Pick on Suicides”, in Afterburner:

     Those loved unhappy shades whom Dante turned / To sticks and marl

• greensand

marl (third-person singular simple present marls, present participle marling, simple past and past participle marled)

1. (transitive) To cover with the earthy substance called marl.

marl (third-person singular simple present marls, present participle marling, simple past and past participle marled)

1. (nautical) To cover, as part of a rope, with marline, marking a peculiar hitch at each turn to prevent unwinding.

   Synonym: marline

• RAML

marl

1. Alternative form of marle