Greek word · G3133

μαραίνω

marainō

to fade

To wither or fade (of plants), to die down (of a fire), to waste away (of a body through sickness or grief), to die.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

μαραίνω

in cl.,

1. prop., to quench fire; pass., of fire, to die away, go out.

2. In various relations, to quench, waste, wear out (cf. Wisdom of Solomon 19:21); pass., to waste away; in later writers (Plut., Luc., al.), of the withering of flowers and herbage (act., Job 15:30; pass., Job 24:24, Wisdom of Solomon 2:8): James 1:11 (cf. ἀμάραντον).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To wither or fade (of plants), to die down (of a fire), to waste away (of a body through sickness or grief), to die.
Against the English: Translations agree on "fade away". Modern English "fade" can mean gently becoming less visible or less important, as in a career fading. The Greek is harsher: it means withering in death.
How it drifted: "Fade" has grown soft in English (colors fade, celebrities fade from view). The Greek kept the botanical sense of shrivelling and dying.
Used elsewhere in the period: Job 15:30 in the Greek (the wind withers the wicked man's shoot). Wisdom of Solomon 2:8, the ungodly who say "let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither (maranthēnai)". 1 Peter 1:4 and 5:4 use the negative forms (amarantos, amarantinos, "unfading") for the believer's inheritance and crown.

James · 1

James 1:11 μαρανθήσεται. will fade away.

For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Here: "Will wither away." This is a plant word that was also used for people wasting away and dying. The shift to the future tense moves the proverb onto the rich man: what always happens to flowers *will* happen to him.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.