Marseilles

English

Alternative forms

Marseille

Etymology

From French Marseille, from Latin Massilia, Marsilia, from Ancient Greek Μασσαλία (Massalía), probably from a pre-Latin language of Italy, perhaps Ancient Ligurian mas (“spring”). The r was probably retained from Arabic مَرْسَى‎ (marsā, “harbor”).

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “where did the English -s come from?”)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɑː(ɹ)ˈseɪ/, (dated) /mɑː(ɹ)ˈseɪlz/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Rhymes: -eɪ, -eɪlz

Proper noun

Marseilles

The capital city of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, France; capital city of the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Related terms

Massiliote

Translations

city in southern France

Arabic: مَرْسِيلْيَا‎ f (marsīlyā), مَارْسِيلْيَا‎ f (mārsīlyā), مارساي‎ f (mārsāy) (French form)
Hijazi Arabic: مَرْسيليا‎ f (marsīlya)
Aragonese: Marsiella
Armenian: Մարսել (Marsel)
Basque: Marseilla
Breton: Marsilha f, Marseille f
Bulgarian: Марси́лия f (Marsílija)
Burmese: မာဆေးမြို့ (mahce:mrui.)
Catalan: Marsella (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 馬賽／马赛 (zh) (Mǎsài)
Corsican: Marseglia f, Marsiglia f
Czech: Marseille (cs) f
Dutch: Marseille n
Esperanto: Marsejlo
Finnish: Marseilles
Franco-Provençal: Marselye, Marsèlye
French: Marseille (fr) m
Galician: Marsella (gl) f
German: Marseille (de) n, Massilien n
Greek: Μασσαλία (el) f (Massalía), Μαρσέιγ (Marséig)
Haitian Creole: Masey
Hebrew: מרסיי‎ f
Hindi: मार्सैय (mārsaiy)
Hungarian: Marseille (hu)
Irish: Marseille
Italian: Marsiglia (it) f
Japanese: マルセイユ (Maruseiyu)
Kannada: ಮಾರ್ಸೆಲ್ಲಿ (mārselli)
Karakalpak: Marsel
Khmer: ម៉ាកសី (maaksəy)
Korean: 마르세유 (Mareuseyu)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: Masêy
Ladino: Marseya
Latin: Massilia (la) f
Latvian: Marseļa f
Ligurian: Marseggia
Lithuanian: Marselis m
Lombard: Marseja
Macedonian: Марсе́ј m (Marséj)
Norman: Marsêle, Marsèle
Occitan: Marselha (oc) f, (Mistralian) Marsiho f
Persian: مارسی‎ (mârsey)
Piedmontese: Marsèja
Polish: Marsylia (pl) f
Portuguese: Marselha f
Romanian: Marsilia (ro) f
Russian: Марсе́ль (ru) m (Marsɛ́lʹ)
Sardinian: Marsìllia f
Sicilian: Marsigghia f
Spanish: Marsella (es) f
Swedish: Marseille (sv) n, Marseilles (sv) n
Tamil: மர்சேய் (marcēy)
Turkish: Marsilya
Ukrainian: Марсе́ль m (Marsélʹ)
Venetian: Marsegia
Vietnamese: Mạc-xây, Mác-xây

Noun

Marseilles (uncountable)

A kind of fabric made from two series of threads interlacing each other, thus forming a double cloth, quilted in the loom.