Word: mark Part of Speech: verb Etymology: 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-West Germanic *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boundary marker”), from Proto-Indo-European *mórǵs (“edge, boundary, border”). Compare march. Cognates * Dutch mark, merk (“mark, brand”) * German Mark (“mark; borderland”), Marke (“mark, brand”) * Swedish mark (“mark, land, territory”) * Icelandic mark (“mark, sign”) * Latin margō (“edge, margin”) * Persian مرز (marz, “limit, boundary”) * Sanskrit मर्या (maryā, “limit, mark, boundary”), मार्ग (mārga, “mark, section”). Pronunciation: /mɑːk/, /mɑɹk/, /mäː(ɾ)k/, /maːk/, /maːrk/ 1. To put a mark on (something); to make (something) recognizable by a mark; to label or write on (something). Example: to mark a box or bale of merchandise Example: to mark clothing with one's name 2. To leave a mark (often an undesirable or unwanted one) on (something). Example: See where this pencil has marked the paper. Example: The floor was marked with wine and blood. 3. To have a long-lasting negative impact on (someone or something). Labels: figuratively Example: 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. Example: 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? 4. To create an indication of (a location). Example: She folded over the corner of the page to mark where she left off reading. Example: Some animals mark their territory by urinating. 5. To be an indication of (something); to show where (something) is located. Example: This monument marks the spot where Wolfe died. Example: A bell marked the end of visiting hours. 6. To indicate (something) in writing or by other symbols. Example: Prices are marked on individual items. Example: In her Bible, the words of Christ were marked in red. 7. To create (a mark) on a surface. Example: […] on opening it [the handkerchief], I saw an S mark’d in one of the corners. Example: I mark this cross of blood upon you, as a sign that I do it. 8. To celebrate or acknowledge (an event) through an action of some kind. Example: The national holiday is marked by fireworks. Example: It was only four thirty but Gerald was marking his guests’ arrival with a Pimm’s, […] 9. To identify (someone as a particular type of person or as having a particular role). Example: His courage and energy marked him as a leader. Example: […] the son approached her with a cheerful eagerness which marked her as his peculiar object, 10. To assign (someone) to a particular category or class. Example: The new captain would read the fitness report and mark him once and for all as an unreliable fool […] 11. To choose or intend (someone) for a particular end or purpose. Example: When a king, hath once markt for his hate, / A man inferior; […] / […] euermore, he rakes vp in his brest, / Brands of quicke anger; Example: […] I know now that humankind marks certain people for death. 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. Example: The creek marks the boundary between the two farms. Example: That summer marked the beginning of her obsession with cycling. 13. To be typical or characteristic of (something). Example: […] he still retained that simple, unostentatious elegance, that marks the man of real fashion— Example: “Ah,” replied Roger Chillingworth, with that quietness which […] marked all his deportment, 14. To distinguish (one person or thing from another). Example: Indeed the smoke was such they scarce could mark Their friends from foes, Example: Despite their obvious differences these poets had a common view of life which marks them from their predecessors […] 15. To focus one's attention on (something or someone); to pay attention to, to take note of. Example: Mark my words: that boy’s up to no good. Example: More are men’s ends mark’d than their lives before: 16. To become aware of (something) through the physical senses. Labels: dated Example: Some of them [the Animals] coming forward near the place where I lay, gave me an opportunity of distinctly marking their Form. Example: He bent his eyes involuntarily upon the father as he spoke, and marked his uneasiness, for he coloured directly and turned his head away. 17. To hold (someone) in one's line of sight. Example: I marked my man, standing on the catwalk, and waited to throw [my javelin] till he started to climb inboard before they rammed. 18. To indicate the correctness of and give a score to (a school assignment, exam answers, etc.). Labels: Canada, UK Example: The teacher had to spend her weekend marking all the tests. Example: Under the proposals, an assurance is given that GBR (in the words of the plan) will not be marking its own homework. 19. To record that (someone) has a particular status. Example: to mark a student absent. 20. To keep account of; to enumerate and register; to keep score. Labels: intransitive, transitive Example: to mark the points in a game of billiards or a card game Example: Dan was to mark while the doctor and I played [billiards]. 21. To follow a player not in possession of the ball when defending, to prevent them receiving a pass easily. 22. To catch the ball directly from a kick of 15 metres or more without having been touched in transit, resulting in a free kick. 23. To put a marker in the place of one's ball. 24. To sing softly, sometimes an octave lower than usual, in order to protect one's voice during a rehearsal.