mark

• marke (obsolete)
• merk (obsolete)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /mɑːk/, (US) IPA^(key): /mɑɹk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k
• Homophones: Mark, marque

From Middle English mark, merk, merke, from Old English mearc (“mark, sign, line of division; standard; boundary, limit, term, border; defined area, district, province”), from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boundary marker”), from Proto-Indo-European *marǵ- (“edge, boundary, border”). Cognate with Dutch mark, merk (“mark, brand”), German Mark (“mark; borderland”), French marque (“mark; brand”), Swedish mark (“mark, land, territory”), Icelandic mark (“mark, sign”), Latin margo (“edge, margin”), Persian مرز‎ (“limit, boundary”), Sanskrit मर्या (maryā, “limit, mark, boundary”) and मार्ग (mārga, “mark, section”). Compare march.

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, Jane Austen, Pride And Prejudice:

        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.

      • 1643, Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici:

        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:

        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.]
      • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069; The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1624, OCLC 54573970, (please specify |partition=1, 2, or 3):

        , III.iv.2.6:

        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.

      • Knight

        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.]
      • c.1380, Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, Canterbury Tales:

        Which mankynde is so fair part of thy werk / That thou it madest lyk to thyn owene merk.

   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 point 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, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, […], printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

        , 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, p.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. The target or intended victim of a swindle, fixed game or con game. [from 18th c.]
   4. (obsolete) The female genitals. [16th-18th c.]
      • 1596, William Shakespeare, Love's Labours Lost, I.4:

        A mark saies my Lady. Let the mark haue a prick in't, to meate at, if it may be.

      • 1749, John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, Penguin, 1985, p.68:

        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. (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.
      • 1871, Chicago Board of Education, Annual Report (vol.17, p.102)

        A mark for tardiness or for absence is considered by most pupils a disgrace, and strenuous efforts are made to avoid such a mark.

   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. Limit or standard of action or fact.

       to be within the mark;  to come up to the mark

   11. Badge or sign of honour, rank, or official station.
       • Shakespeare

         In the official marks invested, you / Anon do meet the Senate.

   12. (archaic) Preeminence; high position.

       patricians of mark;  a fellow of no mark

   13. (logic) A characteristic or essential attribute; a differential.
   14. (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.
      • Shakespeare

        as much in mock as mark

• (a particular design or make): Mk (abbreviation), Mk. (abbreviation)
• (attention, notice): heed, observance; see also Thesaurus:attention

• Chinese:
  • Cantonese: 嘜 (mak1)
• Japanese: マーク (māku)
• Korean: 마크 (makeu)

mark (third-person singular simple present marks, present participle marking, simple past and past participle marked)

1. To put a mark upon; to make recognizable by a mark.

   to mark a box or bale of merchandise

   to mark clothing with one's name

2. To indicate in some way for later reference.

   She folded over the corner of the page to mark where she left off reading.

   This monument marks the spot where Wolfe died.

   His courage and energy marked him as a leader.

3. To take note of.

   Mark my words: that boy's up to no good.

   • Bible, Psalms xxxvii. 37

     Mark the perfect man.

   • 1881, The Western: A Journal of Literature, Education, and Art

     Moreover, 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.

4. To blemish, scratch, or stain.

   See where this pencil has marked the paper.

   • 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19:

     It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today […].

   The floor was marked with wine and blood.

5. To indicate the correctness of and give a score to an essay, exam answers, etc.

   The teacher had to spend her weekend marking all the tests.

6. To keep account of; to enumerate and register.

   to mark the points in a game of billiards or a card game

7. (Australian rules football) To catch the ball directly from a kick of 10 metres or more without having been touched in transit, resulting in a free kick.
8. (sports) To follow a player not in possession of the ball when defending, to prevent them receiving a pass easily.
9. (golf) To put a marker in the place of one's ball.
10. (singing) To sing softly, and perhaps an octave lower than usual, in order to protect one's voice during a rehearsal.

• (indicate correctness and give score): score, grade

From Middle English mark, from Old English marc (“a denomination of weight (usu. half a pound), mark (money of account)”), from Proto-Germanic *marką (“mark, sign”), from Proto-Indo-European *marǵ- (“edge, boundary, border”). Cognate with Dutch mark (“mark”), German Mark (“a weight of silver, a coin”), Swedish mark (“a stamped coin”), Icelandic mörk (“a weight (usu. a pound) of silver or gold”).

mark (plural marks)

1. A measure of weight (especially for gold and silver), once used throughout Europe, equivalent to 8 oz.
   • 1997, Bernard Scudder, translating ‘Egil's Saga’, in The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin 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.

2. (now historical) An English and Scottish unit of currency (originally valued at one mark weight of silver), equivalent to 13 shillings and fourpence.
   • 1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Oxford 2010, p. 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 2012, page 167:

     He had been made a royal counsellor, drawing a substantial annual salary of a hundred marks.

3. Any of various European monetary units, especially the base unit of currency of Germany between 1948 and 2002, equal to 100 pfennigs.
4. A coin worth one mark.

• (German currency): Deutschmark, Deutsche Mark, German mark

• convertible mark
• Deutsche Mark, Deutschmark
• markka
• Reichsmark

mark

1. (imperative, marching) Alternative form of march (said to be easier to pronounce while giving a command).

   Mark time, mark!

   Forward, mark!

• Karm

From Dutch markt.

mark (plural markte or marke)

1. market

From Old Norse mǫrk.

• IPA^(key): /mark/, [mɑːɡ̊]

mark c (singular definite marken, plural indefinite marker)

1. field (wide, open space used to grow crops or to hold farm animals)

mark c (singular definite marken, plural indefinite mark)

1. mark (unit of currency)

• finmark
• D-mark

• mark on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da
• Mark (møntenhed) on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

From German Marke.

mark (genitive margi, partitive marki)

1. mark (a sign or brand)
2. tally mark
3. stamp (postage stamp)

From Proto-Germanic *markō.

mark (genitive marga, partitive marka)

1. mark (currency)

mark f (genitive singular markar, plural markir)

1. (kvæði) forest
2. (in phrases) pasture
3. (biblical) field

• (forest): skógur, mørk
• (pasture): hagi
• (field): bøur

mark n (genitive singular marks, plural mørk)

1. sign
2. border, frontier

• (sign): merki

• IPA^(key): /maʁk/

• audio (le mark)

  (file)

mark m (plural marks)

1. mark (currency)

• “mark” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From Old Norse mark, from Proto-Germanic *marką.

• IPA^(key): /mar̥k/
• Rhymes: -ar̥k

mark n (genitive singular marks, nominative plural mörk)

1. sign, mark
2. target, aim, mark
3. (sports) goal
4. (numismatics) mark

• daggarmark
• hitta marks
• lífsmark
• sjálfsmark

• merki

From Old Norse maðkr

• makk

mark m (definite singular marken, indefinite plural marker, definite plural markene)

1. a worm (invertebrate)

From Old Norse mǫrk

mark f or m (definite singular marka or marken, indefinite plural marker, definite plural markene)

1. land, ground, field

• “mark” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /mɑrk/

From Old Norse maðkr

• makk

mark m (definite singular marken, indefinite plural markar, definite plural markane)

1. a worm (invertebrate)

From Old Norse mǫrk

mark f (definite singular marka, indefinite plural marker, definite plural markene)

1. land, ground, field

• “mark” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Old Norse mǫrk, from Proto-Germanic *markō.

mark f

1. woodland
2. field

• Swedish: mark

From Old Swedish mark, from Old Norse mǫrk, from Proto-Germanic *markō, from Proto-Indo-European *marǵ- (“edge, boundary, border”). Cognate with Latin margo (“border, edge”), Old Irish mruig, bruig (“border, march”).

• audio

  (file)

mark c

1. (uncountable) ground (as opposed to the sky or the sea)

   Ha fast mark under fötterna - to be on terra firma (literally "to have firm ground under (one's) feet")

   Tillbaka på klassisk mark - back on classical ground

   På engelsk mark - on English soil

2. (countable, uncountable) ground, field

   Bonden ägde mycket mark - The farmer owned a lot of ground

3. mark (currency)
4. (gambling) counter, marker

• ta mark
• i skog och mark

• kram, karm

• IPA^(key): /mærk/, /mark/

From Old Norse maðkr.

mark m (definite singular martjen, dative martjåm, definite plural marka or markan)

1. a worm (invertebrate)

From Old Norse mǫrk.

mark f (definite singular marka, dative marken)

1. forest, woodland; ground

• markvis
• uta mȧrka
• uta mȧrken