carr
nounEtymology From Northumbrian Old English carr; possibly adopted from a Cumbric *carreg, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂er- (“hard”).
1
Rock.
carr
nounUK /kɑː/ · US /kɑɹ/
Etymology From Middle English kerr and Middle English carr meaning meadow, field or grassland of a low lying variety; possibly related to Old Norse kjarr. Compare Swedish kärr, Icelandic kjarr.
1
Any marsh; marshy ground, swampland.
- The marsh lands or ‘carrs’ that covered the low-lying floor of the vale could not be cultivated and the poorly drained flanks of the vale would be best used as pasture.2007, Kevin Leahy, The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Lindsey, Tempus, published 2008, page 16:
- The old tales told of these noble animals sighted padding across clodded fields or circling shrinking copses. Stalking the choking carrs.2017, Benjamin Myers, The Gallows Pole, Bloomsbury, published 2019, page 155:
2
In particular, a marsh or fen formed when the litter of decaying reeds (e.g. in a lake) raises the ground level above the water, allowing more vegetation like sedges and then low bushes or trees to grow; a marshy woodland. (Compare marsh, swamp, bog, fen.)
- Derived terms
- alder carr, Batley Carr, carrland