I. ˈmär-bəl noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Greek marmaros
Date: 12th century
1.
a. : limestone that is more or less crystallized by metamorphism, that ranges from granular to compact in texture, that is capable of taking a high polish, and that is used especially in architecture and sculpture
b. : something (as a piece of sculpture) composed of or made from marble
c. : something suggesting marble (as in hardness, coldness, or smoothness)
a heart of marble
2.
a. : a little ball made of a hard substance (as glass) and used in various games
b. plural but singular in construction : any of several games played with these little balls
c. plural : the rewards to be won in competition especially for a championship — used in the phrase all the marbles
a game being played for all the marble s
3. : marbling
4. plural : elements of common sense ; especially : sanity
persons who are born without all their marble s — Arthur Miller
• marble adjective
II. transitive verb
( mar·bled ; mar·bling -b(ə-)liŋ)
Date: 1675
: to give a veined or mottled appearance to
marble the edges of a book