mare

But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge,[…].

1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

The silly mare phoned your mother, talking about applying for a mortgage, and we don't want that, do we?

2007, Hester Browne, Little Lady, Big Apple:

(UK, Ireland, derogatory, slang) A foolish woman.

stud and gelding refer to adult male horses

pony can refer to adult horses of either sex under a certain height

Danish language
Dutch language
German language
Icelandic language
Middle English language
North Frisian language
Old English language
Proto-Germanic language
Proto-West Germanic language
Scots language
Swedish language
West Frisian language

From Middle English mare, mere, from Old English mīere (“female horse, mare”), from Proto-West Germanic *marhijā, from Proto-Germanic *marhijō (“female horse”), from *marhaz (“horse”).
Cognates
See also Scots mere, meir, mear (“mare”), North Frisian mar (“mare, horse”), West Frisian merje (“mare”), Dutch merrie (“mare”), Danish mær (“mare”), Swedish märr (“mare”), Icelandic meri (“mare”), German Mähre (“decrepit old horse”)), Old English mearh.


mare

(obsolete or historical) A type of evil spirit formerly thought to sit on the chest of a sleeping person; also, the feeling of suffocation felt during sleep, attributed to such a spirit.

I'm having a complete mare today.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial) A nightmare; a frustrating or terrible experience.

Albanian language
Czech language
Danish language
Greek language
Old English language
Old Irish language
Old Norse language
Polish language
Proto-Germanic language
Proto-Indo-European language
Proto-West Germanic language
Swedish language

From Old English mare (“nightmare, monster”), from Proto-West Germanic *marā, from Proto-Germanic *marǭ (“nightmare, incubus”), from Proto-Indo-European *mor- (“feminine evil spirit”). Doublet of mara.
Cognates
Akin to Dutch (dial.) mare, German (dial.) Mahr, Old Norse mara ( > Danish mare, Swedish mara (“incubus, nightmare”); also Old Irish Morrígan (“phantom queen”), Albanian merë (“horror”), Polish zmora (“nightmare”), Czech mura (“nightmare, moth”), Greek Μόρα (Móra).


mare

(planetology) A large, dark plain, which may have the appearance of a sea, such as those on the Moon

Kraken Mare (a lake of liquid hydrocarbons on Titan which is slightly larger than the Caspian Sea)

(planetology) On Saturn's moon Titan, any of several lakes which are large expanses of what is thought to be liquid hydrocarbons.

Borrowed from Latin mare (“sea”). Doublet of mar and mere.