 a march or mark referred to a militarised border region, such as the scottish marches, the borderland between england and scotland. marches was a medieval and early modern european name for a border areas of a realm where different laws applied, for defence of the border against hostile incursions, or to regulate border trade or both.  ==etymology== the frankish word marka and the old english word mearc both come from proto-germanic *marko (old norse mÃ¶rk "borderland, forest"online etymology dictionary and derived form merki "boundary, sign"http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mark), denoting a borderland between two centres of power. the anglo-saxon kingdom of mercia took its name from west saxon mearc "marches", which in this instance referred explicitly to the territory's position on the anglo-saxon frontier with the romano-british to the west. it seems that in old english "mark" meant "boundary" or "sign of a boundary", and the meaning later evolved into "sign in general", "impression or trace forming a sign". during the frankish carolingian dynasty, usage of the word spread throughout europe. the germanic word ultimately derives from a proto-indo-european root *mereg-, meaning "edge, boundary". the root *mereg- produced latin margo ("margin"), old irish mruig ("borderland"), and persian and armenian marz ("borderland"). the name denmark preserves the old norse cognates merki ("boundary") mÃ¶rk ("wood", "forest") up to the present. following the anschluss, the nazi german government revived the old name 'ostmark' for austria. == marches and titles ==  in some european countries in contrast to regular counties, which were ruled over by counts, marches were (at least in theory) ruled over by nobles with the title of marquess (english), marquis (french or scots), margrave (markgraf i.e. count of the mark) or nobles with corresponding titles (other european states). the wife of a titleholder or a woman that is herself a titleholder is addressed respectively as marchioness, marquise, or margravine. in england and scotland however, the title was introduced as a way of introducing new distinctions among the peerage. in the medieval period those holding lordships in the marches of wales or scotland could be dukes, earls or barons or eve
Defunct_types_of_subdivision_in_the_United_Kingdom