marra
marra, a hoe for rooting out weeds, weeding-hook
- I Lit.: tu penitus latis eradere viscera marris Ne dubita, Col. 10, 72; id. 10, 89; Plin. 17, 21, 35, § 159; Juv. 15, 166.—
- II Transf., a hook: (Silurus) in Danubio marris extrahitur, Plin. 9, 14, 17, § 45.
hec ~ahouue
in iij sacc’, j ~a et aliis minutis emptis
hec merra,a mattoke
a mattoke , ligo, ~a
Marra, Ferreum instrumentum ad exscindendas herbas accommodatum.
Marre de Vigneron. Gloss. Lat. Gr. MSS. :
Marr, G. Hoe, Foussouer, de quoy on houe
les vignes, L. Ligo.
vignes Marrées, i. e.
marrapastinatæ, in Consuet. Blesensi art. 184.
Prise de Marres, in vet. Consuet. Aurelian. art. 104. cum instrumenta quæ agriculturæ inserviunt, ob census statuto die non exsolutos, obsignantur.
Mox bene cum plebis vivacem cespitis herbam
Contundat Marra.
Utimini gladiis ; eget his hæc area Marris.
Tandem Martis et sarculis loco
purgato, etc. Ubi leg. Marris. Marrochon, eadem acceptione, diminut. a Gallico
Le suppliant se baissa pour prendre à terre un Marrochon ou cerclouere,
etc.- a hoe for rooting out weeds, weeding-hook: marrae et sarcula, Iu.
MARRAwas apparently a sort of single-headed pick-axe, perhaps heavier and with a broader head than the ligo, for Columella (Colum. 10.72) applies the epithet lata to the marra: its use for breaking up the hard ground in preparation for lighter digging and hoeing is sufficiently shown by Col. 10.88 (quoted by Mayor on Juvenal, 15.166), mox bene cum glaebis vivacem cespitis herbam contundat marrae vel fracti dente ligonis . . . tune quoque trita solo splendentia sarcula sumat angustosque foros adverso limite ducens rursus in obliquum distinguat tramite parvo. In Plin. Nat.18.147, it is prescribed for cleaning the ground of weeds too strong and obstinate to be got out by the hoe, ploughing being the last resource, if the weeds beat even the marra. The contrast of the marra with the dens fracti ligonis in the passage quoted from Columella suggests that its head had a smooth blade, not indented or split into two prongs.
[G.E.M]A hoe or rake with a broad head and teeth, used in Roman husbandry for clearing the ground of weeds and other encumbrances (Columella, x. 70, 88; Juv.xv. 166.)