démarcation

Forms

démarcation f (plural démarcations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish demarcación (1609), from demarcar (“to mark the limits of a country or plot”) (1617).^[2][3][4][5] That verb is the intensive of marcar, the counterpart of marquer.^[4] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give the Spanish source only as possible,^[6][7] and Littré took the word as French, formed on that verb with the prefix dé-.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1700 in ligne de démarcation, the line Pope Alexander VI had drawn on the map of the world to divide the Spanish possessions from the Portuguese.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century ligne de démarcation came to mean any line separating two territories (point de démarcation 1773)^[2][4] and, figuratively, two powers or domains (1770, d'Holbach).^[2][4] The noun was used freely in the same senses from 1791 (Mirabeau, Volney).^[2][4][9] The Académie printed a variant ligne de marcation from 1835 to 1878.^[4]

In France la ligne de démarcation is above all the line that divided the occupied zone from the free zone between 1940 and 1942.^[7][10][11]

Timeline

• 1700 – Ligne de démarcation is used of the papal line between Spanish and Portuguese lands.^[2][3]
• 1770 – d'Holbach uses ligne de démarcation figuratively.^[2]
• 1773 – Bernardin de Saint-Pierre writes point de démarcation.^[2]
• 1791 – The noun alone appears in Mirabeau and Volney.^[2][4]
• 1798 – Recorded by the Académie.^[11]
• 1940 – The ligne de démarcation divides occupied and free France (until 1942).^[7][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of marking the boundaries between two territories or zones, and the boundary itself.^[7][10][2]
2. Ligne de démarcation: a natural or agreed line serving as a common boundary; in France, the line between the occupied and the free zone (1940–1942).^[10][7][11]
3. (figurative) A clear separation between two things or domains: la démarcation entre le jeu et le travail.^[8][7][10]

Related words

• marquer
• démarquer
• Spanish demarcar

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse