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marcar

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word marcar

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1259 a charter, as the participle marcadas More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *markō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Proto-Germanic *marką
Proto-West Germanic *mark
Latin marca
Italian marca
Spanish marca
From the same root
Proto-Germanic *markōną ← *marką
Spanish marcar ← marca

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /maʁˈka(ʁ)/, [mahˈka(h)][1]
  • São-Paulo: /maɾˈka(ɾ)/[1]
  • Rio-de-Janeiro: /maʁˈka(ʁ)/, [maχˈka(χ)][1]
  • Caipira: /maɻˈka(ɻ)/[1]

Forms

marcar (first-person singular present marco, first-person singular preterite marquei, past participle marcado)[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.[2] Machado, the DLP, Silva Bastos and Vieira derive it from Portuguese marca + -ar, from the noun for a sign or a boundary mark.[2][3][4][5] Cunha thinks it probably comes from Italian marcare, and perhaps from Proto-Germanic *markiān.[6][2] Nascentes and Aurélio also see a Germanic origin, through Lombardic *markan and the Italian verb.[2][7]

Wiktionary derives it from Medieval Latin marcō, “to mark, stamp”, which local documents use, with the noun for a boundary stone and a verb for demarcating, from the 9th century.[1][8] Because the early records mean “to mark out boundaries”, Wiktionary takes it not from Italian but from Gothic or Suevic, from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary, region”).[1] The Galician-Portuguese record of 1259 is older than Spanish marcar, first recorded in 1488, which Corominas derives from the Italian verb and Lombardic.[9][10] Nocentini dates the Italian verb to the 14th century and derives it from a Germanic verb “to make a sign”.[11]

Kroonen's reconstruction “boundary, region” has reflexes in Old English mearc (“boundary, district”) and Old High German marka (“border, region”), and is cognate with Latin margō (“edge, border”).[12] Orel derives from it the sense “mark, half-pound of silver”.[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

R. Lorenzo's chronology has the participle in a charter of 1259, assj como estam marcadas et deuisadas “as they are marked out and divided”, then una leyra marcada “a plot marked out” in 1267 and como uai marcado “as it is marked” in 1270.[10] The first sense is “to mark the boundaries of a piece of land”, still the usual one in the notarial books of Rianjo.[10]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) has marking cattle, branding with fire and stamping coins.[14] Bluteau adds marking silver plate.[15] Vieira records the military use, marking out the camp and the quarters, and the senses “to bruise” and “to leave traces”.[5] The original Caldas Aulete has “to fix, determine”, with an itinerary in Camilo and fixed hours in Eça de Queirós.[16]

The verb has sports senses, “to score” and “to mark an opponent”, and with dates and times it means “to make an appointment”.[1][17][16] Regional uses include a bull fixing on a person it means to charge, in Portugal.[18]

Timeline

  • 1259 – marcadas “marked out” in a charter.[2][10]
  • 1267 – una leyra marcada in a charter.[10]
  • 13th century – Cunha's date for the verb and for demarcar.[6]
  • 1542 – marcados in a private letter.[19]
  • 1611 – Barbosa records marking cattle and coins.[14]
  • 17th century – Cunha's date for marcador.[6]
  • 1813 – Cunha's date for desmarcar and desmarcado.[6]
  • 20th century – Cunha's date for marcação.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To mark: to put a mark, label or number on something to identify it.[2][7][1]
  2. To brand with a hot iron.[2][14]
  3. To indicate with a sign, so as to draw attention or remember: marcar o caminho no mapa.[2]
  4. To mark out, demarcate (demarcar) (a boundary, a piece of land).[7][10]
  5. To fix, set (a date, a deadline, a meeting); to make an appointment.[7][16][1]
  6. Of a clock or instrument: to show.[7][1]
  7. To be the distinguishing feature of; to leave a lasting impression on: marcar época.[7][16]
  8. (sports) To score (a goal or point).[1][17]
  9. (sports) To mark an opposing player.[1][17]
  10. (Internet) To tag a user in a post.[1]

Word family

  • demarcar
  • desmarcar
  • desmarcado
  • marcação
  • marcador
  • marcada

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. marcar
  3. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. marcar
  4. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. marcar
  5. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 4, 138
  6. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. marcar
  7. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. marcar
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. marcare
  9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 842
  10. ^ a b c d e f Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. marcar
  11. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. marcare
  12. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 355
  13. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 262
  14. ^ a b c Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. marcar
  15. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. marcar
  16. ^ a b c d Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. marcar
  17. ^ a b c Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. marcar
  18. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. marcar
  19. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. marcar
Cite this entry

“Marcar.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/marcar. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·