demarcación

Forms

demarcación f (plural demarcaciones)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish demarcar + -ción.^[1][2][3] Corominas lists the noun with demarcar among the derivatives of marcar, and dates it to 1611.^[4][5] The verb is formed from that base with the prefix de-.^[6] Corominas takes the base verb probably from Italian marcare (“to mark (goods)”), itself surely from *markan.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first record is in the minutes of the town council of Madrid of 1498–1501, which mention the demarcaçion brought by an investigating judge.^[7] From 1518 the word is frequent in the documents on the Spice Islands: the agreement with Magellan and Falero speaks of lands within the limits of nuestra demarcación, the zone assigned to the Castilian crown.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the age of the discoveries the word named the line dividing the Castilian and Portuguese zones and the zone itself.^[7] In the Americas it was used of the territory of a jurisdiction: a Guatemalan text of 1551 says that a province was not en su demarcación.^[8] Autoridades in 1732 defined it as the drawing of limits that divide lands and provinces, quoting Argensola on the Moluccas and Solís on the maps of Montezuma's dominions.^[2]

Today it means the act of demarcating, the land so marked out, and the part of a territorial division under each jurisdiction.^[3] Moliner adds a sporting sense, the part of the field assigned to each player.^[9]

Timeline

• 1498–1501 – the minutes of the Madrid town council.^[7]
• 1518 – the agreement with Magellan and Falero on the Spice Islands.^[7]
• 1551 – first record in the Americas, in Guatemala.^[8]
• 1611 – the date Corominas gives for the first record.^[4]
• 1732 – Autoridades defines it as the drawing of boundaries.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or result of demarcating (demarcar); demarcation.^[3][1]
2. A piece of land whose limits have been marked out.^[3][9]
3. In a territorial division, the area that falls under each jurisdiction (jurisdicción); a district: La oficina atiende a los vecinos de toda la demarcación.^[3][9]
4. (sports) The part of the field assigned to each player.^[9]

Related words

• marcar
• comarca
• delimitación

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. demarcación
3. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. demarcación
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. marcar
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 842
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. demarcar
7. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. demarcación
8. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. demarcación
9. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. demarcación