Word.ws English Dictionary

mark of Cain

mark of Cain noun: a mark of divine protection imposed on Cain, a biblical figure, for murdering his brother Abel.

Noun (1)

mark of Cain (plural marks of Cain)

  1. A mark of divine protection imposed on Cain, a biblical figure, for murdering his brother Abel.
    • The Bible vaguely describes the mark of Cain; it does not specify its exact nature.
    • If that is true, whatever the mark of Cain was, God removed His protection.2011, anonymous author, United Church of God
  2. (rare) A stigma of shame.
    • When the engineer's design failed, he received a mark of Cain causing others to choose not to work with him.
    • A genetic defect might metaphorically be referred to as a "Mark of Cain"2009, quarkstomper, “Mark Of Cain”, in The Arcana Wiki
  3. (derogatory, ethnic, obsolete, offensive, slur) The darker skin found on people of non-European descent, believed to result from being a supposed descendant of Cain.
    • That the descendants of Cain were black, inheriting the mark of Cain.1849, John Fletcher, Studies on slavery, page 443
    • He who would harbor the inhuman, sacriligious thought, let him be anathematized by heaven; let him receive the mark of Cain, and be driven from the pale of civilized society, to wander a fugitive and a vagabond on the Earth.1851, Josiah Priest, Bible Defence of Slavery, W.S. Brown, page 476

Noun (2) capitalized: Mark of Cain

Mark of Cain (plural Marks of Cain)

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of mark of Cain.

Examples of mark of Cain in a sentence

  • The mark of Cain was a one-time act of mercy for a rebellious sinner, but the marks Christ bears were from a once-for-all sacrifice given for the sins of rebellious mankind.2021, Troy Lacey, Answers in Genesis:
  • Werksman called the jail clothes a “mark of Cain” that branded his client a criminal in photos and video from the courtroom.2021, Andrew Dalton, “Harvey Weinstein: 1 sexual assault count dismissed, for now”, in The Seattle Times:

Forms of mark of Cain

pluralmarks of Cain
alternative formMark of Cain
pluralMarks of Cain

Origin of mark of Cain

* From: 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Genesis, 4:15 :* And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Questions about mark of Cain

What does mark of Cain mean?
Mark of Cain means a mark of divine protection imposed on Cain, a biblical figure, for murdering his brother Abel.
How do you use mark of Cain in a sentence?
The mark of Cain was a one-time act of mercy for a rebellious sinner, but the marks Christ bears were from a once-for-all sacrifice given for the sins of rebellious mankind.
What part of speech is mark of Cain?
Mark of Cain is a noun.
What is the plural of mark of Cain?
The plural of mark of Cain is marks of Cain.

Words near mark of Cain in the dictionary

  1. mark I eyeballs
  2. Mark Municipality
  3. mark my word
  4. mark my words
  5. mark of admiration
  6. mark of Cain
  7. mark of exclamation
  8. mark of interrogation
  9. mark of the beast
  10. Mark of the Web
  11. mark off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mark of Cain (page history and authors); Mark of Cain (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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