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מָר/מָרָא
[Updated: 2020.03.06]
mōr/mōr•âꞋ
מֹרִי, or מֹארִי, (morꞋi; my [Tōr•âhꞋ] instructor or master); the Tōr•âhꞋ-reading instructor in a Tei•mân•iꞋ Beit ha-KᵊnësꞋët.
מֹארִי צֶדֶק (MōrꞋi TzëdꞋëq) and later Hebrew: מוֹרֶה צֶדֶק (MōrꞋëh TzëdꞋëq); [the] Just [Tōr•âhꞋ]-Instructor, corrupted to "Righteous Teacher") of the Qūm•rânꞋ Tzᵊdoq•imꞋ—see Kha•nūk•âhꞋ & 
מוֹרָה Biblical Hebrew 
— In MH: and modern times, this refers to a female teacher (which, outside of an idolatrous priestess or goddess, was unthinkable in the Biblical era). This form is found only three times in Ta•na"khꞋ: Shō•phᵊt•imꞋ 13.5; 16.17 & Shᵊmu•eilꞋ ÂlꞋëph 1.11. In each instance, it describes something that “shall not יַעֲלֶה עַל (arise or ascend up over/upon) one’s head”. Befuddled, rabbis and translators over-actively hypothesized a contraction of מַעֲרָה (ma•ar•âhꞋ) — Biblical Hebrew 
— not otherwise found in Ta•na"khꞋ, from ערה (=to lay bare), from which one may derive תַּעַר, Biblical Hebrew 
, (ta•arꞋ; razor). Thereafter, equally befuddled translators simply assumed the illogical overreach. One can easily see that, in the Biblical Hebrew, the and would not be mistaken. See also Nâ•zirꞋ, who could be subject to no mortal מוֹרָה over his head.
Fem. מָרתָה (mâr•tâhꞋ; instructress or mistress), Aramaic מָרתָא (MârꞋtâ), origin of the name Martha, found in the Tar•jumꞋ of Mᵊlâkh•imꞋ ÂlꞋëph 17.17 and Yᵊsha•yâhꞋu 24.2. מָרָה (mâr•âhꞋ; instructress or mistress) is another fem. form according to Klein's Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English (p. 383). However, the claim that this form is supported by the ossuary found on Har ha-Zeit•imꞋ is in error as that ossuary reads מָרְיָה, not מָרָה.
מָרָא, MârꞋâ, as a contraction of MârꞋtâ (L.Y. Rahmani, Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries, nos. 701-709, comm. 3), would continue the connotation of Mârtâ—an instructress.
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