English
mark
see also: Mark
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /mɑːk/
  • (America) IPA: /mɑɹk/
  • (India) IPA: /mɑː(ɾ)k/
  • (Ireland) IPA: /mæɹk/
Etymology 1

From Middle English mark, merk, merke, from Old English mearc, from Proto-West Germanic *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō, from Proto-Indo-European *marǵ-.

Compare march.

  • Dutch mark, merk ("mark, brand")
  • German Mark, Marke ("brand")
  • Swedish mark
  • Icelandic mark
  • Latin margo
  • Persian مرز
  • Sanskrit मर्या, मार्ग ("mark, section").
Noun

mark (plural marks)

  1. (heading) Boundary, land within a boundary.
    1. (obsolete) A boundary; a border or frontier. [9th–19th c.]
    2. (obsolete) A boundary-post or fence. [13th–18th c.]
    3. A stone or post used to indicate position and guide travellers. [from 14th c.]
      • 1859, Henry Bull, A history, military and municipal, of the ancient borough of the Devizes:
        I do remember a great thron in Yatton field near Bristow-way, against which Sir William Waller's men made a great fire and killed it. I think the stump remains, and was a mark for travellers.
    4. (archaic) A type of small region or principality. [from 18th c.]
      • 1954, J R R Tolkien, The Two Towers:
        There dwells Théoden son of Thengel, King of the Mark of Rohan.
    5. (historical) A common, or area of common land, especially among early Germanic peoples. [from 19th c.]
  2. (heading) Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
    1. An omen; a symptomatic indicator of something. [from 8th c.]
      • 1813 January 26, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC ↗:
        depend upon it, you will speedily receive from me a letter of thanks for this as well as for every other mark of your regard during my stay in Hertfordshire.
    2. A characteristic feature. [from 16th c.]
      A good sense of manners is the mark of a true gentleman.
      • 1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici. […], 4th edition, London: […] E. Cotes for Andrew Crook […], published 1656, →OCLC ↗:
        there is surely a physiognomy, which those experienced and master mendicants observe, whereby they instantly discover a merciful aspect, and will single out a face, wherein they spy the signatures and marks of mercy.
    3. A visible impression or sign; a blemish, scratch, or stain, whether accidental or intentional. [from 9th c.]
      • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC ↗:
        Then she put before her face her poor crushed hands, which bore on their whiteness the red mark of the Count's terrible grip […].
    4. A sign or brand on a person. [from 10th c.]
      • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “III.iv.2.6”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC ↗:
        Doubt not of thine election, it is an immutable decree; a mark never to be defaced: you have been otherwise, you may and shall be.
    5. A written character or sign. [from 10th c.]
      The font wasn't able to render all the diacritical marks properly.
    6. A stamp or other indication of provenance, quality etc. [from 11th c.]
      With eggs, you need to check for the quality mark before you buy.
      • 1876, Edward H. Knight, American Mechanical Dictionary:
        The mark of the artisan is found upon the most ancient fabrics that have come to light.
    7. (obsolete) Resemblance, likeness, image. [14th–16th c.]
    8. A particular design or make of an item (now usually with following numeral). [from 15th c.]
      I am proud to present my patented travelator, mark two.
    9. A score for finding the correct answer, or other academic achievement; the sum of such points gained as out of a possible total. [from 19th c.]
      What mark did you get in your history test?
  3. (heading) Indicator of position, objective etc.
    1. A target for shooting at with a projectile. [from 13th c.]
      • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC ↗:
        , II.1:
        A skilfull archer ought first to know the marke he aimeth at, and then apply his hand, his bow, his string, his arrow and his motion accordingly.
      • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 37:
        To give them an accurate eye and strength of arm, none under twenty-four years of age might shoot at any standing mark, except it was for a rover, and then he was to change his mark at every shot; and no person above that age might shoot at any mark whose distance was less than eleven score yards.
    2. An indication or sign used for reference or measurement. [from 14th c.]
      I filled the bottle up to the 500ml mark.
    3. (informal) The target or intended victim of a swindle, fixed game or con game; a gullible person. [from 18th c.]
      • 2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 313:
        [Xi Jinping] asked for Trump's personal attention to the issue, probably figuring he had identified his mark and wasn't going to let him get away.
    4. (obsolete) The female genitals. [16th–18th c.]
      • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour's Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene iv]:
        A mark saies my Lady. Let the mark haue a prick in't, to meate at, if it may be.
      • 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC ↗:
        her thighs were still spread, and the mark lay fair for him, who, now kneeling between them, displayed to us a side-view of that fierce erect machine of his […].
    5. (Rugby football, Australian rules football) A catch of the ball directly from a kick of 10 metres or more without having been touched in transit, resulting in a free kick. [from 19th c.]
    6. (sports) The line indicating an athlete's starting-point. [from 19th c.]
    7. A score for a sporting achievement. [from 20th c.]
    8. An official note that is added to a record kept about someone's behavior or performance.
    9. (cooking) A specified level on a scale denoting gas-powered oven temperatures. [from 20th c.]
      Now put the pastry in at 450 degrees, or mark 8.
    10. (product design/engineering) The model number of a device; a device model.
      The Mark I system had poor radar, and the Mark II was too expensive; regardless, most antiaircraft direction remained the responsibility of the Mark I Eyeball (as the jocular phrase calls it): that is, the operator's eye.
    11. Limit or standard of action or fact.
      to be within the mark
      to come up to the mark
    12. Badge or sign of honour, rank, or official station.
    13. (archaic) Preeminence; high position.
      patricians of mark
      a fellow of no mark
    14. (logic) A characteristic or essential attribute; a differential.
    15. (nautical) One of the bits of leather or coloured bunting placed upon a sounding line at intervals of from two to five fathoms. (The unmarked fathoms are called "deeps".)
  4. (heading) Attention.
    1. (archaic) Attention, notice. [from 15th c.]
      His last comment is particularly worthy of mark.
    2. Importance, noteworthiness. (Generally in postmodifier “of mark”.) [from 16th c.]
      • 1909, Richard Burton, Masters of the English Novel:
        in the short story of western flavor he was a pioneer of mark, the founder of a genre: probably no other writer is so significant in his field.
    3. (obsolete) Regard; respect.
  5. (professional wrestling slang) Condescending label of a wrestling fan who refuses to believe that pro wrestling is predetermined and/or choreographed.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

mark (marks, present participle marking; simple past and past participle marked)

  1. To put a mark on (something); to make (something) recognizable by a mark; to label or write on (something).
    to mark a box or bale of merchandise
    to mark clothing with one's name
    • 1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Down the Rabbit-Hole”, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC ↗, page 10 ↗:
      [I]f you drink much from a bottle marked “poison,” it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.
    • 1969, William Trevor, chapter 11, in Mrs. Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel‎, Penguin, published 1973, page 177:
      Her son wrote badly, as if fearful of marking the page at all.
  2. To leave a mark (often an undesirable or unwanted one) on (something).
    Synonyms: blemish, scar, scratch, stain
    See where this pencil has marked the paper.
    The floor was marked with wine and blood.
    • 1717, Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer‎, London: Bernard Lintott, Volume 3, Book 12, p. 229:
      Those Wheels returning ne’er shall mark the Plain;
    • 1855, Frederick Douglass, “speech given on 12 May, 1846. Appendix.”, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC ↗, part II (Life as a Freeman), page 410 ↗:
      Advertisements are from time to time inserted, stating that slaves have escaped […] marked with the lash, branded with red-hot irons, the initials of their master’s name burned into their flesh;
  3. (figurative) To have a long-lasting negative impact on (someone or something).
    • 1939, John Steinbeck, chapter 10, in The Grapes of Wrath‎, Penguin, published 1976, page 104:
      The death of his wife, followed by months of being alone, had marked him with guilt and shame and had left an unbreaking loneliness on him.
  4. To create an indication of (a location).
    She folded over the corner of the page to mark where she left off reading.
    Some animals mark their territory by urinating.
  5. To be an indication of (something); to show where (something) is located.
    This monument marks the spot where Wolfe died.
    A bell marked the end of visiting hours.
    Synonyms: demonstrate, indicate, manifest, reveal, show, signal
    • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 4, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC ↗, page 49 ↗:
      She gave her an answer which marked her contempt, and instantly left the room,
    • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 58, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC ↗, page 528 ↗:
      […] the cloth was laid for him […] and a plate laid thereon to mark that the table was retained,
    • 1973, Jan Morris, Heaven's Command: An Imperial Progress‎, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1980, Part 1, Chapter 3, section 6, p. 61:
      […] the lazy circling vultures marked the Hill of Execution, which was littered with human bones and scavenged by hyaenas.
    • 2019, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous‎, New York: Penguin, Part 1, p. 16:
      Her forehead, lashed deep with lines, marked her fifty-six years.
  6. To indicate (something) in writing or by other symbols.
    Prices are marked on individual items.
    In her Bible, the words of Christ were marked in red.
    Synonyms: display, show, write
    • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC ↗, page 219 ↗:
      […] it was in the middle of May, on the sixteenth Day I think, as well as my poor wooden Calendar would reckon; for I markt all upon the Post still;
    • 1875, Benjamin Farjeon, At the Sign of the Silver Flagon‎, New York: Harper, Part 3, Chapter 2, p. 84:
      “What does the clock mark now?”
      “Eight minutes to seven.”
  7. To create (a mark) on a surface.
    Synonyms: draw, trace
    • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities‎, London: Chapman and Hall, Book 3, Chapter 10, p. 220:
      I mark this cross of blood upon you, as a sign that I do it.
    • 1988, Barbara Kingsolver, chapter 6, in The Bean Trees‎, New York: HarperCollins, page 82:
      […] I was testing a stack of old whitewalls, dunking them in the water and marking a yellow chalk circle around each leak.
  8. To celebrate or acknowledge (an event) through an action of some kind.
    The national holiday is marked by fireworks.
    Synonyms: commemorate, solemnize
    • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 11, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 276 ↗:
      It was only four thirty but Gerald was marking his guests’ arrival with a Pimm’s, […]
  9. (of things) To identify (someone as a particular type of person or as having a particular role).
    His courage and energy marked him as a leader.
    • 1901, Rudyard Kipling, chapter 5, in Kim‎, London: Macmillan, published 1902, page 115:
      The black dress, gold cross on the watch-chain, the hairless face, and the soft, black wideawake hat would have marked him as a holy man anywhere in all India.
    • 2016, Julian Barnes, The Noise of Time‎, Random House, Prologue:
      Enquiring about the movement of trains—even if you were a passenger on one—could mark you as a saboteur.
  10. (of people) To assign (someone) to a particular category or class.
    Synonyms: classify, mark out
    • 1951, Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny‎, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Part 2, Chapter 10, p. 113:
      The new captain would read the fitness report and mark him once and for all as an unreliable fool […]
  11. (of people) To choose or intend (someone) for a particular end or purpose.
    Synonyms: destine, mark out, target
    • [1611?], Homer, “The First Booke of Homers Iliads”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC ↗, page 28 ↗:
      When a king, hath once markt for his hate, / A man inferior; […] / […] euermore, he rakes vp in his brest, / Brands of quicke anger;
    • 1970, Saul Bellow, chapter 5, in Mr. Sammler's Planet‎, New York: Viking, page 230:
      […] I know now that humankind marks certain people for death.
  12. To be a point in time or space at which something takes place; to accompany or be accompanied by (an event, action, etc.); to coincide with.
    The creek marks the boundary between the two farms.
    That summer marked the beginning of her obsession with cycling.
    Synonyms: represent, see
    • 1912 February–July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Under the Moons of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC ↗; republished as chapter 16, in A Princess of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., 1917 October, →OCLC ↗, page 172 ↗:
      […] we hastened toward the bordering desert which marked our entrance into the realm of Tal Hajus.
  13. To be typical or characteristic of (something).
    Synonyms: characterize, typify
    • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 9, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC ↗, [https://archive.org/details/scarletletterrom01hawt/page/145 ↗/mode/1up page 145 ↗]:
      “Ah,” replied Roger Chillingworth, with that quietness which […] marked all his deportment,
    • 1908, Arnold Bennett, The Old Wives' Tale‎, New York: Modern Library, published 1911, Book 4, Chapter 1, p. 487:
      […] Cyril’s attitude to his mother was marked by a certain benevolent negligence
  14. To distinguish (one person or thing from another).
    • 1823 July 14, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos VI.—VII.—and VIII., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John Hunt, […], →OCLC ↗, canto VIII, stanza 130, page 313 ↗:
      Indeed the smoke was such they scarce could mark
      Their friends from foes,
    • 1943, Maurice Bowra, chapter 1, in The Heritage of Symbolism‎, London: Macmillan, published 1954, page 2:
      Despite their obvious differences these poets had a common view of life which marks them from their predecessors […]
  15. (dated except in the phrase "mark my words") To focus one's attention on (something or someone); to pay attention to, to take note of.
    Synonyms: heed, listen to, look at, observe, watch
    Mark my words: that boy’s up to no good.
    • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene 1]:
      More are men’s ends mark’d than their lives before:
    • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i]:
      I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick: nobody marks you.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Psalms 37:37 ↗:
      Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
    • 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall‎, New York: Henry Holt, Part 6, Chapter 2, p. 522:
      “When Wolsey came down, I said, mark him, he’s a sharp fellow. […] ”
  16. (dated) To become aware of (something) through the physical senses.
    Synonyms: hear, note, notice, observe, perceive, see
    • 1726 October 27, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver's Travels], London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC ↗, (please specify |part=I to IV), page 161 ↗:
      Some of them [the Animals] coming forward near the place where I lay, gave me an opportunity of distinctly marking their Form.
    • 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 53, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC ↗, page 525 ↗:
      He bent his eyes involuntarily upon the father as he spoke, and marked his uneasiness, for he coloured directly and turned his head away.
    • 1881, John Bascom, “Improvements in Language” in The Western: A Journal of Literature, Education, and Art, New Series, Volume 7, No. 6, December, 1881, p. 499,
      […] it is to be remembered that a poor speller is a poor pronouncer. The ear does not mark the sound any more exactly than the eye marks the letters.
    • 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King‎, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, published 1965, Appendix A, pp. 347-348:
      Helm had a great horn, and soon it was marked that before he sallied forth he would blow a blast upon it that echoed in the Deep;
  17. To hold (someone) in one's line of sight.
  18. (Canada, UK) To indicate the correctness of and give a score to (a school assignment, exam answers, etc.).
    The teacher had to spend her weekend marking all the tests.
    Synonyms: grade, score
  19. To record that (someone) has a particular status.
    to mark a student absent.
  20. (transitive, intransitive) To keep account of; to enumerate and register; to keep score.
    to mark the points in a game of billiards or a card game
  21. (sports) To follow a player not in possession of the ball when defending, to prevent them receiving a pass easily.
  22. (Australian rules football) To catch the ball directly from a kick of 15 metres or more without having been touched in transit, resulting in a free kick.
  23. (golf) To put a marker in the place of one's ball.
  24. (singing) To sing softly, sometimes an octave lower than usual, in order to protect one's voice during a rehearsal.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Etymology 2

From Middle English mark, from Old English marc, from Proto-West Germanic *mark, from Proto-Germanic *marką, from Proto-Indo-European *marǵ-.

Noun

mark (plural marks)

  1. (historical) A half pound, a traditional unit of mass equivalent to 226.8 g.
  2. (historical) Similar half-pound units in other measurement systems, chiefly used for gold and silver.
    • 1997, “Egil's Saga”, in Bernard Scudder, transl., The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 91:
      As a reward for his poetry, Athelstan gave Egil two more gold rings weighing a mark each, along with an expensive cloak that the king himself had worn.
  3. (historical) A half pound, a former English and Scottish currency equivalent to 13 shillings and fourpence and notionally equivalent to a mark of sterling silver.
    • 1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Oxford, published 2010, page 42:
      George, on receiving it, instantly rose from the side of one of them, and said, in the hearing of them all, ‘I will bet a hundred merks that is Drummond.’
    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 167:
      He had been made a royal counsellor, drawing a substantial annual salary of a hundred marks.
  4. (historical) Other similar currencies notionally equal to a mark of silver or gold.
Synonyms
  • (Spanish unit of mass) marco, Spanish mark
  • (Portuguese unit of mass) marco, Portuguese mark
Translations Translations Etymology 3

From German Mark, from Middle High German marc, marche, marke, from Old High German marc, from Proto-West Germanic *mark (whence etymology 2 via Old English marc).

Noun

mark

  1. (historical) A former currency of Germany and West Germany.
Synonyms Etymology 4

An alternative form supposedly easier to pronounce while giving commands.

Verb
  1. (imperative, marching) Alternative form of march.
    Mark time, mark!
    Forward, mark!
Mark
Etymology

From Middle English Mark, from the Latin - praenomen (i.

Pronunciation
  • (Australia) IPA: /maːk/
  • (British) IPA: /mɑː(ɹ)k/
  • (America) IPA: /mɑɹk/
Proper noun
  1. A male given name.
    Synonyms: Marc, Marco, Marcos, Marko, Markos, Marq, Marque, Marcus
    • 1988, Ann Oakley, Men's Room, pages 25–26:
      "And your name?" she said, "I suppose it's quite unremarkable?" "Very funny." "Mark. It could stand as a symbol of a man, for men as a category," she reflected, "but I don't suppose that's why your mother gave it to you?" "My mother's motives always were impenetrable to me. I was her only child, she wanted a simple life. So she gave me a simple name to go along with it. --- It wasn't a popular name until the nineteenth century. People were put off by King Mark in the Tristram and Iseult."
  2. Surname.
  3. Mark the Evangelist, also called John Mark, the first patriarch of Alexandria, credited with the authorship of the Gospel of Mark.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗:
      , Acts 15: 37-39:
      And Barnabas was determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought it not good to take him with them, who departed from them in Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder from the other; and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed to Cyprus.
  4. (biblical) The Gospel of St. Mark, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the second of the four gospels.
    Synonyms: Mar.
Related terms Translations Translations Translations
  • French: Marc
  • German: Markus
  • Italian: Marco
  • Portuguese: Marcos
  • Russian: Евангелие от Марка
  • Spanish: Evangelio según San Marcos, Marcos
Noun
  1. (galaxy) Abbreviation of Markarian
Synonyms
  • Mkr, Mkr., MKR
  • Mrk, Mrk., MRK
  • Mkn, Mkn., MKN


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