march

English has a verb march, “to walk in step”, and a noun march, “borderland”,^[1][2] besides the name of the month, March.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /mɑːtʃ/, US /mɑːrtʃ/^[3]

march¹ walk in step

Etymology

To walk in step is inherited from Middle English marchen, borrowed from Middle French marcher (“to march, walk”),^[2][4][5] from marchier (“to trample, tread underfoot”),^[2][4][5] a word of uncertain origin.^[4] Barnhart, the AHD and Merriam-Webster derive it from a Germanic source, Frankish *markōn (“to mark out”), related to mark;^[2][6][5] Hoad and the SOED prefer a Gallo-Romance verb *marcāre (“to hammer”), from Late Latin marcus (“hammer”), with the idea of tramping the feet.^[7][8][4] Italian marciare and Spanish marchar are said to come from the French.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To walk with measured steps, singly or as a body: about 1410^[2] or the early 15th century.^[4] The earliest sense of the noun was “footprint, track”, from Old French, in the early 15th century.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense “to cause to march, move in military order” is from the 1590s,^[4] and “to make someone go somewhere at one's command” by 1884.^[4] The noun meant a rhythmic drumbeat for marching about 1572,^[2][9] and the act of marching from 1590;^[2][10] a piece of music in march time is from about 1600^[4] or 1588.^[11] “An advance from one halting place to another”, and the distance so covered, is from the 1590s.^[4] Forward motion in general (the march of progress) is from the 1620s,^[4] and the march of intellect was a common phrase from 1775.^[10] To march in a protest is from the mid-20th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1410 – to walk in step.^[2]
• early 15th century – noun, a track or footprint.^[4]
• c. 1572 – noun, a drumbeat for marching.^[2]
• 1590 – noun, the act of marching.^[2][10]
• 1590s – verb, to make troops march.^[4]
• c. 1600 – a piece of music for marching.^[4]
• 1620s – forward progress.^[4]
• mid-20th century – to take part in a protest march.^[8]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To walk steadily and rhythmically forward in step with others.
2. To walk purposefully; to advance steadily.
3. To take part in an organized walk, as for a protest.
4. To make someone march or go somewhere.

Noun

1. The act of marching, especially the advance of a body of troops.
2. Steady forward movement: the march of time.
3. The distance covered by marching.
4. A piece of music in a regular rhythm suited to marching.
5. An organized walk for a public cause.

Word family

• marcher
• countermarch
• outmarch
• route march
• steal a march on

march² borderland

Etymology

The borderland is inherited from Middle English marche, borrowed from Old French marche (“boundary, frontier”),^[2][4][8] from Frankish *marka,^[2][4][7] from Proto-Germanic *markō, the source of English mark.^[4][7][8] It replaced and merged with the native Old English mearc (“boundary, mark”).^[2] It is related to marquis.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The border district of a country: probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin,^[2] and as a surname in 1207;^[2] Etymonline dates it to the early 13th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In early use the word often referred to the borderlands next to Wales, and later especially to the English border with Scotland,^[4] and the Marches was its earliest use in Britain.^[2][4] Etymonline notes that as the old Germanic word for “border” came to mean “borderland”, other words such as border and bound took over the original sense.^[4] The boundary of an estate, chiefly in Scotland, is recorded from 1540.^[10] The verb “to have a common boundary with” is from about 1330^[10] or probably before 1300.^[2] The English Dialect Dictionary records march for a boundary line or landmark in Scotland, Ireland, Northumberland and Lincolnshire.^[12]

Timeline

• 1207 – as a surname.^[2]
• before 1300 – a border district (Arthour and Merlin).^[2]
• c. 1330 – verb, to border on.^[10]
• 1540 – the boundary of an estate (chiefly Scots).^[10]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (chiefly historical) A border or frontier of a country, or a tract of land along it, often disputed.
2. (the Marches) The parts of England along the border with Wales, and formerly Scotland.

Verb

1. To have a common boundary; to border.

Word family

• marcher

Related words

• Marche
• marquee
• marquess
• marchioness
• marquis
• marquisate
• March
• mark
• margrave
• démarche

Usage notes

Oxford's Word Origins traces march to a different drummer to Thoreau's remark that a man who does not keep pace with his companions perhaps hears a different drummer.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)