mark

pronunciation

How to pronounce mark in British English: UK [mɑːk] word uk audio image

How to pronounce mark in American English: US [mɑːrk] word us audio image

Noun:

a number or letter indicating quality (especially of a student's performance)
a distinguishing symbol
a reference point to shoot at
a visible indication made on a surface
the impression created by doing something unusual or extraordinary that people notice and remember
a symbol of disgrace or infamy
formerly the basic unit of money in Germany
a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of
a written or printed symbol (as for punctuation)
a perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (as a visible clue that something has happened)
an indication of damage
marking consisting of crossing lines
something that exactly succeeds in achieving its goal
Verb:

attach a tag or label to
designate as if by a mark
be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait; sometimes in a very positive sense
mark by some ceremony or observation
make or leave a mark on
to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful
notice or perceive
mark with a scar
make small marks into the surface of
establish as the highest level or best performance
make underscoring marks
remove from a list
put a check mark on or next to
assign a grade or rank to, according to one's evaluation
insert punctuation marks into

Word Origin

mark: mark: English has two words mark, although they may be ultimately related. Mark ‘sign, trace’ [OE] goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *markō. This seems originally to have denoted ‘boundary’ (that is what Old English mearc meant, and related forms such as march ‘border’ and margin still bear witness to it), but the notion of a ‘sign denoting a boundary’ seems to have led early on to the development of the word’s main present-day sense. Remark is closely related, as are marquis and marchioness, and marquetry [16], borrowed from French marqueterie, a derivative of marque ‘mark’, denotes etymologically work that is ‘marked’ with patterns. Mark ‘coin’ [OE] comes from medieval Latin marcus or marca, which may well derive ultimately from the ancestor of mark ‘sign, trace’ (its etymological meaning being ‘mark on a piece of metal, constituting a coin’).=> demarcation, march, margin, marquetry, marquis, remark

mark (n.1): "trace, impression," Old English mearc (West Saxon), merc (Mercian) "boundary, sign, limit, mark," from Proto-Germanic *marko (cognates: Old Norse merki "boundary, sign," mörk "forest," which often marked a frontier; Old Frisian merke, Gothic marka "boundary, frontier," Dutch merk "mark, brand," German Mark "boundary, boundary land"), from PIE *merg- "edge, boundary, border" (cognates: Latin margo "margin;" Avestan mareza- "border," Old Irish mruig, Irish bruig "borderland," Welsh bro "district"). The primary sense is probably "boundary," which had evolved by Old English through "sign of a boundary," through "sign in general," then to "impression or trace forming a sign." Meaning "any visible trace or impression" first recorded c. 1200. Sense of "line drawn to indicate starting point of a race" (as in on your marks ...) first attested 1887. The Middle English sense of "target" (c. 1200) is the notion in marksman and slang sense "victim of a swindle" (1883). The notion of "sign, token" is behind the meaning "numerical award given by a teacher" (1829). Influenced by Scandinavian cognates.

mark (v.): "to put a mark on," Old English mearcian (West Saxon), merciga (Anglian) "to trace out boundaries," from Proto-Germanic *markojan (cognates: Old Norse merkja, Old Saxon markon, Old Frisian merkia, Old High German marchon, German merken "to mark, note," Middle Dutch and Dutch merken), from the root of mark (n.1). Influenced by Scandinavian cognates. Meaning "to have a mark" is from c. 1400; that of "to notice, observe" is late 14c. Meaning "to put a numerical price on an object for sale" led to verbal phrase mark down (1859). Mark time (1833) is from military drill. Related: Marked; marking. Old French merchier "to mark, note, stamp, brand" is a Germanic loan-word.

mark (n.2): "unit of money or weight," late Old English marc, a unit of weight (chiefly for gold or silver) equal to about eight ounces, probably from Old Norse mörk "unit of weight," cognate with German Mark, probably ultimately a derivative of mark (n.1), perhaps in sense of "imprinted weight or coin." Used from 18c. in reference to various continental coinages, especially. the silver coin of Germany first issued 1875.

Mark: masc. proper name, variant of Marcus (q.v.). Among the top 10 names given to boy babies born in the U.S. between 1955 and 1970.

1. From analysts ' forecasts , this could mark the beginning of the end of gold 's bull run .