mark English · revision 2606

+ English has two words spelled ''mark'': the sign or trace, with the verb, and the unit of weight and money, probably from Old Norse but itself derived from the first.^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /mɑːk/, US /mɑːrk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|sign, trace}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=701|origins=gem-pro *markō}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The sign is [[inh|enm|merke]], also marke,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) [[inh|ang|mearc|t=boundary, limit; sign, landmark]], Mercian merc,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*markō]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of Old Norse [[m|non|merki|t=boundary, sign]] and [[m|non|mǫrk|t=forest]], which often marked a frontier, Gothic marka “boundary” and German [[m|de|Mark|t=boundary land]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) It was influenced by, and partly borrowed from, the Scandinavian cognates.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is from [[ine-pro|*merǵ-|alt=*merg-|t=boundary, border]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) the root also of Latin [[m|la|margō|t=edge, border]], the source of [[margin]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) The verb is Old English [[m|ang|mearcian|t=to trace out boundaries]], from the root of the noun.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The Germanic word was borrowed early into the Romance languages, giving [[marque]], [[march]] the border region, and [[marquis]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “Boundary, frontier”: 701,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and merc “a mark” in the compound merciseren “branding iron”, about 700.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Old English the primary sense “boundary” had passed through “a pillar or post marking a boundary” to “a sign in general”, and then to “an impression or trace forming a sign”.^(Etymonline) A standard or banner is from about 1000, and a target to be aimed at from about 1205.^(OED 1989) “Any visible trace or impression” is by about 1200.^(Etymonline) A cross made by someone who cannot write, as a signature, is a mark;^(AHD) in the knotted cloth on a sounding line that marks fathoms it gave ''mark twain'', “two fathoms”, from 1769, the source of Mark Twain's pen name.^(Etymonline) The verb “to make a mark on” is from late Old English, “to notice, observe” from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and “to be a notable feature of” by the 1660s.^(Etymonline) ''To mark time'' is from 1833, from military drill.^(Etymonline) In medieval Germany a mark was a tract of land held in common.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 701 – a boundary.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1000 – a standard or banner.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – a visible trace.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1205 – a target.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – verb, to notice.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1660s – to characterize.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1769 – a mark on a sounding line.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1833 – ''to mark time''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A visible trace or impression, such as a line, spot or dent.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A written or printed symbol: ''a question mark''.^(AHD)

+ # A number or letter used to grade work; a [[grade]].^(AHD)

+ # A sign or indication: ''a mark of respect''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A target, or a goal aimed at.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A boundary.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make a visible mark on.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To indicate or single out by a mark.^(AHD)

+ # To grade a piece of work.^(AHD)

+ # To be a feature of; to [[characterize]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To pay attention to; to notice: ''mark my words''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[marker]]

+ * [[marked]]

+ * [[marking]]

+ * [[marksman]]

+ * [[landmark]]

+ * [[trademark]]

+ * [[birthmark]]

+ * [[postmark]]

+ * [[remark]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|unit of money}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=886 (treaty of Alfred and Guthrum)|origins=non mǫrk}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The unit is [[inh|enm|mark]], [[inh|ang|marc|t=a unit of weight]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) probably [[bor|non|mǫrk|t=a unit of weight]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004) cognate with German [[m|de|Mark]] and Middle Dutch marc.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is probably a derivative of the first ''mark'', perhaps from the sign or imprint on the weighed bar or the coin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Old French marc and Medieval Latin marca, themselves from Germanic, may have affected its development in Middle English,^(Barnhart 1988) and the SOED takes the Germanic words as probably all from Medieval Latin marcus, marca.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A unit of weight, chiefly for gold and silver, about eight ounces: 886, in the compound healf-marc in Alfred's treaty with the Danish chief Guthrum.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In England it was a unit of account, worth 13 shillings and 4 pence, into the 18th century, perhaps introduced by the Danes, but never the name of a coin.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) From the 18th century it was used of various continental coins,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) especially the German silver mark first issued in 1875, a sense not found in English before 1883.^(Barnhart 1988) The American Heritage Dictionary adds the Finnish markka.^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 886 – a unit of weight.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 18th century – continental coins.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1883 – the German mark, in English.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The former basic unit of money of Germany, the [[Deutschmark]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # ''(historical)'' An English and Scottish money of account worth 13 shillings and 4 pence.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(historical)'' A unit of weight for gold and silver, about eight ounces.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Deutschmark]]

+ * [[markka]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[margin]]

+ * [[march]]

+ * [[marque]]

+ * [[marquis]]

+ * [[demarcation]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The man's name ''Mark'' is from Latin Mārcus and is unrelated.^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}