mark

Noun (1)

mark (plural marks)

1. (obsolete) A boundary; a border or frontier.
2. (obsolete) A boundary-post or fence.
3. A stone or post used to indicate position and guide travellers.
   • 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.1859, Henry Bull, A history, military and municipal, of the ancient borough of the Devizes
4. The line indicating an athlete's starting-point.
5. (archaic) A type of small region or principality.
   • There dwells Théoden son of Thengel, King of the Mark of Rohan.1954, J R R Tolkien, The Two Towers
6. (historical) A common, or area of common land, especially among early Germanic peoples.
7. An omen; a symptomatic indicator of something.
   • 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.1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC
8. A characteristic feature.
   • A good sense of manners is the mark of a true gentleman.
   • 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.1642, [Thomas Browne], “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici, London: […] Andrew Crooke, →OCLC
9. A visible impression or sign; a blemish, scratch, or stain, whether accidental or intentional.
   • Then she put before her face her poor crushed hands, which bore on their whiteness the red mark of the Count's terrible grip[…].1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC
10. A sign or brand on a person.
    • 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.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
11. A written character or sign.
    • The font wasn't able to render all the diacritical marks properly.
12. A stamp or other indication of provenance, quality etc.
    • With eggs, you need to check for the quality mark before you buy.
    • But vvhat a vvretched, and diſconſolate Hermitage is that Houſe, vvhich is not viſited by thee [God], and vvhat a VVayue, and Stray is that Man, that hath not thy Markes vpon him?1624, John Donne, “13. Prayer”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, page 329

Verb

mark (third-person singular simple present 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
2. To leave a mark (often an undesirable or unwanted one) on (something).
   • See where this pencil has marked the paper.
   • The floor was marked with wine and blood.

   Synonyms:

   blemish, scar, scratch, stain

3. (figuratively) To have a long-lasting negative impact on (someone or something).
   • 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.1939, John Steinbeck, chapter 10, in The Grapes of Wrath, Penguin, published 1976, page 104
   • What Uncle Marc had been through as a slave marked him, I’m sure, but I don’t know how much. How can you know what a man would be like if he had grown up unmarked by horror?1998, Octavia Butler, Parable of the Talents, New York: Seven Stories Press, page 279
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

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

7. To create (a mark) on a surface.
   • […] on opening it [the handkerchief], I saw an S mark’d in one of the corners.1768, Laurence Sterne, “Maria”, in A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume 2, London: T. Becket and P.A. De Hondt, page 175
   • I mark this cross of blood upon you, as a sign that I do it.1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, Book 3, Chapter 10, p. 220

   Synonyms:

   draw, trace

8. To celebrate or acknowledge (an event) through an action of some kind.
   • The national holiday is marked by fireworks.
   • It was only four thirty but Gerald was marking his guests’ arrival with a Pimm’s, […]2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 11, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 276

   Synonyms:

   commemorate, solemnize

9. To identify (someone as a particular type of person or as having a particular role).
   • His courage and energy marked him as a leader.
   • […] the son approached her with a cheerful eagerness which marked her as his peculiar object,1815, Jane Austen, chapter 8, in Emma, volume 2, London: John Murray, page 134
10. To assign (someone) to a particular category or class.
    • The new captain would read the fitness report and mark him once and for all as an unreliable fool […]1951, Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Part 2, Chapter 10, p. 113

    Synonyms:

    classify, mark out

11. To choose or intend (someone) for a particular end or purpose.
    • When a king, hath once markt for his hate, / A man inferior; […] / […] euermore, he rakes vp in his brest, / Brands of quicke anger;[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
    • […] I know now that humankind marks certain people for death.1970, Saul Bellow, chapter 5, in Mr. Sammler’s Planet, New York: Viking, page 230

    Synonyms:

    destine, mark out, target

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

Noun (2)

mark (plural marks)

1. (historical) A half pound, a traditional unit of mass equivalent to 226.8 g.

   Synonyms:

   marco, Spanish mark, Portuguese mark

2. (historical) Similar half-pound units in other measurement systems, chiefly used for gold and silver.
   • 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.1997, “Egil's Saga”, in Bernard Scudder, transl., The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 91
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.
   • 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.’1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Oxford, published 2010, page 42
   • He had been made a royal counsellor, drawing a substantial annual salary of a hundred marks.2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 167
4. (historical) Other similar currencies notionally equal to a mark of silver or gold.

Noun (3)

mark (plural mark or marks)

1. (historical) A former currency of Germany and West Germany.
   • Aus der Geschichte der menschlichen Dummheit. By Dr. Max Kemmerich. Price 3 mark 50 pfennige. Bavaria: Verlag Albert Langen, Munich.1928 November, “Reviews”, in The Occult Review, volume XLVIII, number 5, London: Rider & Co., page 356

   Synonyms:

   Deutschmark, Deutsche Mark, German mark, Reichsmark

Proper noun capitalized: Mark

Australia/maːk/UK/mɑː(ɹ)k/

Mark (countable and uncountable, plural Marks)

1. A male given name from Latin.
   • "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...1988, Ann Oakley, Men's Room, pages 25–26
   • One Nation, a new 501(c)4 linked to the Karl-Rove-backed American Crossroads super PAC, is spending more than $1.9 million on print, radio and digital ads highlighting the efforts of Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman...2015 May 12, Alexandra Jaffe, “First on CNN: New Rove-linked group spends $2M to boost GOP incumbents”, in CNN

   Synonyms:

   Marc, Marco, Marcos, Marko, Markos, Marq, Marque, Marcus

2. A surname.
3. Mark the Evangelist, also called John Mark, the first patriarch of Alexandria, credited with the authorship of the Gospel of Mark.
   • 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..., Acts 15: 37-39
4. The Gospel of St. Mark, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the second of the four gospels.

   Synonyms:

   Mar.

5. A village and civil parish in Somerset, England, previously in Sedgemoor district (OS grid ref ST3747).

Noun (4) capitalized: Mark

Australia/maːk/UK/mɑː(ɹ)k/

Mark

1. (abbreviation) Abbreviation of Markarian.

   Synonyms:

   Mkr, Mrk, Mkn