Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MAR-VEL, n. [Fr. merveille; Ir. mierbhaille; It. maraviglia; Sp. maravilla; Port. maravilha; Arm. marz; L. mirabilis, wonderful, from miror, Ch. and Syr. דמר demar, to wonder, L. demiror. We have the primary sense in the Armoric miret, to stop, hold, keep, guard, hinder; for to wonder, admire, to be astonished, is to stop, to hold, to be fixed, which exactly expresses the fact. The Russian zamirayu, to be astonished, is the same word with a prefix, and from miryu, to pacify or appease, that is, to stop, to allay. From the same root or family, probably, we have moor, to moor a ship, Sp. and Port. amarrar, Fr. amarrer, to moor, and demeurer, to dwell or abide. So also L. mora, delay, and perhaps morior, W. maru, to die, murus, a wall, Eng. demur, &c. Class Mr, No. 32.]

1. A wonder; that which arrests the attention and causes a person to stand or gaze, or to pause. [This word is not obsolete, but little used in elegant writings.]
2. Wonder; admiration. Marvel of Peru, a plant of the genus Mirabilis.