marble

adj

Etymology: Inherited from Middle English marble, marbre; from Anglo-Norman and Old French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Ancient Greek μάρμαρος (mármaros), perhaps related to μαρμάρεος (marmáreos, “gleaming”). The forms from French displaced Old English marma, which had previously been borrowed from Latin.

1. Made of, or resembling, marble.

   “a marble mantel”

   “marble paper”

2. Cold; hard; unfeeling.

   “a marble heart”

name

1. A surname.
2. A statutory town in Gunnison County, Colorado.

noun

Etymology: Inherited from Middle English marble, marbre; from Anglo-Norman and Old French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Ancient Greek μάρμαρος (mármaros), perhaps related to μαρμάρεος (marmáreos, “gleaming”). The forms from French displaced Old English marma, which had previously been borrowed from Latin.

1. A metamorphic rock of crystalline limestone.

   “Open thy marble jaws, O tomb / And hide me, earth, in thy dark womb.”

2. A small ball used in games, originally of marble but now usually of glass or ceramic.
3. Statues made from marble.

   “The Elgin Marbles were originally part of the temple of the Parthenon.”

   “[I]t was a portrait of the Library, though not strictly correct as to its contents, since all the best of the marbles displayed in various parts of the house were brought into the painting by the artist, who made it up into a picturesque composition according to his own taste.”

4. The marbling in meat.

   “The marble is graded using the Australian system.”

verb

Etymology: Inherited from Middle English marble, marbre; from Anglo-Norman and Old French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Ancient Greek μάρμαρος (mármaros), perhaps related to μαρμάρεος (marmáreos, “gleaming”). The forms from French displaced Old English marma, which had previously been borrowed from Latin.

1. To cause (something to have) the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example by mixing viscous ingredients incompletely, or by applying paint or other colorants unevenly.

   “The small clouds which chequered the sky, as they passed along, spread their flitting shadows on the distant mountains, and seemed to marble them; a beauty which I do not recollect has struck any painter.”

   “In the operation of marbling the edges of the books, [...]”

2. To get or have the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example due to the incomplete mixing of viscous ingredients, or the uneven application of paint or other colorants.

   “Scent the entire batch and then color half with the blue colorant. Pour both parts back into your soap pot. Do not stir. Pour in a circular motion into a block mold. The pouring action will cause the soap to marble.”

3. To cause meat, usually beef, pork, or lamb, to be interlaced with fat so that its appearance resembles that of marble.

   “Their flesh is soft (tender), and they throw a portion of their fat among the lean so as to marble it. The beef is of a better quality and they take on fat much easier.”

   “The Merino sheep is likely to put his weight largely into tallow around the stomach, intestines and on his kidneys, instead of mixing fairly with the meat, instead of marbling the meat.”

4. To become interlaced with fat; (of fat) to interlace through meat.

   “We've gone mostly to black bulls — Angus bulls because today the packers like black cattle. They seem to marble better.”

   “As we feed these cattle corn their meat marbles. By marbling, I mean the red meat cells are surrounded with fat”

5. To lace or be laced throughout.

   “Was he the reason for the bitterness that seemed to marble her character?”

   “'Nobody who has been to war ever talks about it,' he says. But then he does talk, and generously, mining his memory and following the vein of a life marbled with experience: 'I mean, I am in my nineties; […]'”