Meaning
A man's sleeveless vest or singlet worn as an undershirt — the everyday Jamaican word for it. Cool in the heat, the marina is worn under a shirt or on its own around the house and yard, and it belongs to the plain, homely male wardrobe alongside the merino and the ganzie. The open-net version, all mesh, is a 'mesh marina'. A fixture of ordinary dress, a clean white marina is a small mark of a tidy man, and the word names one of the most basic and constant items a Jamaican man owns.
Examples
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Him a relax inna him marina an short pants.
He's relaxing in his singlet and shorts.
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Put on a clean marina under yuh shirt.
Put on a clean undershirt under your shirt.
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Di ole man wear him marina pon di verandah.
The old man wears his vest on the verandah.
Origin
The Caribbean term for a singlet/undershirt (of uncertain origin); the netted style is the 'mesh marina'.
How it’s used
The everyday word for a man's undershirt/singlet. See [[mesh-marina]].