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demarcar

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word demarcar

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1490 Alfonso de Palencia, Universal vocabulario More words from the 15th century
Ultimate origin
Italian marcare
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin marca
Spanish marca
Spanish marcar
Spanish demarcar
Derivations
From the same root
Latin marchēnsis ← marca

Pronunciation

  • /demaɾˈkaɾ/, [d̪e.maɾˈkaɾ][1]

Forms

demarcar (first-person singular present demarco, first-person singular preterite demarqué, past participle demarcado)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish de- + marcar.[2][3][4] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of marcar, next to comarca and comarcar.[5][6] He takes the base verb probably from Italian marcare (“to mark a person or thing (especially goods)”), itself surely from *markan; he compares Old English mearcian (“to mark”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first record is in Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario (1490), in a wordplay quoted from Plautus: ni comarco ni demarco.[7] The first clear record of the sense “to fix limits” is in the opinion given at the Junta of Badajoz in 1524 on whether the Moluccas belonged to the emperor: however one wished to demarcar, the islands fell within his bounds.[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the verb belonged to navigation and the division of newly found lands: Cervantes de Salazar's chronicle of New Spain (1560) and Ercilla's Araucana (1569) use it, and a 1571 text from Lima speaks of graduando y demarcando la tierra.[7][8] Corominas dates it to about 1600, in Mariana.[5]

Autoridades in 1732 defined it as drawing the limits of lands and provinces, and had a military phrase demarcar el terreno, marking out with stakes and cords the ground a camp was to occupy.[4][9] The Academy added a nautical sense in 1817, taking with the compass the bearing of a cape, island or ship.[10] Domínguez in 1846 recorded figurative uses, such as fixing the powers of an authority or noting differences between two things.[11] The current DLE mentions mining concessions in particular.[2][12]

Timeline

  • 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia, Universal vocabulario.[7]
  • 1524 – the Junta of Badajoz on the Moluccas.[7]
  • 1571 – first record in the Americas, in Lima.[8]
  • 1599 – the date Corominas's short dictionary gives for the first record.[6]
  • 1732 – Autoridades defines it and records demarcar el terreno.[4]
  • 1817 – the Academy adds the nautical sense.[10]
  • 1884 – the Academy gives its etymology, de and marcar.[13]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To mark out or define the limits (límite) of a country or piece of land, especially of a mining concession; to demarcate: Los ingenieros demarcaron la parcela con estacas.[2][3][1]
  2. To set clear limits to something in general; to delimit.[14][1]
  3. (nautical) To determine a ship's position or a bearing; see marcar.[2][3][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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
  3. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. demarcar
  4. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 65
  5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 842
  6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. marcar
  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. demarcar
  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. demarcar
  9. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. demarcar
  10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 284
  11. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 551
  12. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. demarcar
  13. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 345
  14. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. demarcar
  15. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 320
Cite this entry

“Demarcar.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/demarcar. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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