Maremma

See also: maremma

Italian

Etymology

Several etymologies have been proposed. The most common is that the area was supposedly known in Roman times as maritima regio (meaning “sea-side country”), and that the name came down directly from this Latin designation. Another theory has that the name derives from Spanish marisma, meaning “swamp”. This Spanish term also derives from Latin maritima. The area was known for being a malarial swamp (see the article Grosseto in the online Brittanica), and it belonged to the State of the Presidi, which was under Spanish control from 1557 to 1707, so a voyage from Latin maritima to Spanish marisma to Maremma does not at all look impossible. Finally, an amateur etymology derives it as Old High German marah (“horse”) + *hemma (“pen for animals”); the semantic distance remains unexplained.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈrem.ma/
• Rhymes: -emma
• Hyphenation: Ma‧rém‧ma

Proper noun

Maremma f

1. the coastal plain of southern Tuscany and northern Lazio

Anagrams

• mammare