Definition of "mark"

mark¹

/mɑːk/

noun
plural marks
1. (heading) Boundary, land within a boundary.
  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.
    Quotations
    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. (archaic) A type of small region or principality.
    Quotations
    There dwells Théoden son of Thengel, King of the Mark of Rohan.
    1954, J R R Tolkien, The Two Towers
  5. (historical) A common, or area of common land, especially among early Germanic peoples.
2. (heading) Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  1. An omen; a symptomatic indicator of something.
    Quotations
    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: […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […]
  2. A characteristic feature.
    Quotations
    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, Tho, published 1656
  3. A visible impression or sign; a blemish, scratch, or stain, whether accidental or intentional.
    Quotations
    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, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library
  4. A sign or brand on a person.
    Quotations
    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: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps
  5. A written character or sign.
  6. A stamp or other indication of provenance, quality etc.
    Quotations
    The mark of the artisan is found upon the most ancient fabrics that have come to light.
    1876, Edward H. Knight, American Mechanical Dictionary
  7. (obsolete) Resemblance, likeness, image.
    Quotations
    Which mankynde is so fair part of thy werk / That thou it madest lyk to thyn owene merk.(please add an English translation of this quotation)
    1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story)”, in The Canterbury Tales; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542,
  8. A particular design or make of an item (now usually with following numeral).
  9. A score for finding the correct answer, or other academic achievement; the sum of such points gained as out of a possible total.
3. (heading) Indicator of position, objective etc.
  1. A target for shooting at with a projectile.
    Quotations
    A skilfull archer ought first to know the marke he aimeth at, and then apply his hand, his bow, his string, his arrow and his motion accordingly.
    1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […]
    To give them an accurate eye and strength of arm, none under twenty-four years of age might shoot at any standing mark, except it was for a rover, and then he was to change his mark at every shot; and no person above that age might shoot at any mark whose distance was less than eleven score yards.
    1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 37
  2. An indication or sign used for reference or measurement.
  3. (informal) The target or intended victim of a swindle, fixed game or con game; a gullible person.
    Quotations
    [Xi Jinping] asked for Trump's personal attention to the issue, probably figuring he had identified his mark and wasn't going to let him get away.
    2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, page 313
    Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli): How are you gonna make it in life if you're this big a mark?Albie Di Grasso (Adam DiMarco): I'm not a mark.
    2022 December 11, Mike White, “Arrivederci”, in Mike White, director, The White Lotus, season 2, episode 7, via HBO
  4. (obsolete) The female genitals.
    Quotations
    A mark saies my Lady. Let the mark haue a prick in't, to meate at, if it may be.
    c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene iv]
    her thighs were still spread, and the mark lay fair for him, who, now kneeling between them, displayed to us a side-view of that fierce erect machine of his […].
    1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […]
  5. (Rugby football, Australian rules football) A catch of the ball directly from a kick of 10 metres or more without having been touched in transit, resulting in a free kick.
  6. (sports) The line indicating an athlete's starting-point.
  7. A score for a sporting achievement.
  8. An official note that is added to a record kept about someone's behavior or performance.
    Quotations
    A mark for tardiness or for absence is considered by most pupils a disgrace, and strenuous efforts are made to avoid such a mark.
    1871, Chicago Board of Education, Annual Report, volume 17, page 102
  9. (cooking) A specified level on a scale denoting gas-powered oven temperatures.
  10. (product design/engineering) The model number of a device; a device model.
  11. Limit or standard of action or fact.
  12. Badge or sign of honour, rank, or official station.
    Quotations
    In the official marks invested, you / Anon do meet the Senate.
    1605, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus
  13. (archaic) Preeminence; high position.
  14. (logic) A characteristic or essential attribute; a differential.
  15. (nautical) One of the bits of leather or coloured bunting placed upon a sounding line at intervals of from two to five fathoms. (The unmarked fathoms are called "deeps".)
4. (heading) Attention.
  Quotations
  But faults so countenanced, that the strong statutes Stand like the forfeits in a barber's shop, as much in mock as mark
  1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
  1. (archaic) Attention, notice.
  2. Importance, noteworthiness. (Generally in postmodifier “of mark”.)
    Quotations
    in the short story of western flavor he was a pioneer of mark, the founder of a genre: probably no other writer is so significant in his field.
    1909, Richard Burton, Masters of the English Novel
  3. (obsolete) Regard; respect.
5. (professional wrestling slang) Condescending label of a wrestling fan who refuses to believe that pro wrestling is predetermined and/or choreographed.
verb
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).
  Quotations
  […] if you drink much from a bottle marked “poison,” it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.
  1865, Lewis Carroll, chapter 1, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland‎, Boston: Lee and Shepard, published 1869, page 10
  Her son wrote badly, as if fearful of marking the page at all.
  1969, William Trevor, chapter 11, in Mrs. Eckdorf in O’Neill’s Hotel‎, Penguin, published 1973, page 177
2. To leave a mark (often an undesirable or unwanted one) on (something).
  Quotations
  Those Wheels returning ne’er shall mark the Plain;
  1717, Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer‎, London: Bernard Lintott, Volume 3, Book 12, p. 229
  Advertisements are from time to time inserted, stating that slaves have escaped […] marked with the lash, branded with red-hot irons, the initials of their master’s name burned into their flesh;
  1855, Frederick Douglass, “speech given on 12 May, 1846. Appendix.”, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], part II (Life as a Freeman), page 410
3. (figurative) To have a long-lasting negative impact on (someone or something).
  Quotations
  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
  It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today […].
  2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19
4. To create an indication of (a location).
5. To be an indication of (something); to show where (something) is located.
  Quotations
  And where the jolly Troop [of elves and fairies] had led the roundThe Grass unbidden rose, and mark’d the Ground:
  1700, John Dryden, “The Wife of Bath Her Tale”, in Fables Ancient and Modern‎, London: Jacob Tonson, page 479
  She gave her an answer which marked her contempt, and instantly left the room,
  1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 4, in Sense and Sensibility […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], page 49
  […] the cloth was laid for him […] and a plate laid thereon to mark that the table was retained,
  1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 58, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, page 528
  […] the lazy circling vultures marked the Hill of Execution, which was littered with human bones and scavenged by hyaenas.
  1973, Jan Morris, Heaven’s Command: An Imperial Progress‎, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1980, Part 1, Chapter 3, section 6, p. 61
  Her forehead, lashed deep with lines, marked her fifty-six years.
  2019, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous‎, New York: Penguin, Part 1, p. 16
6. To indicate (something) in writing or by other symbols.
  Quotations
  […] it was in the middle of May, on the sixteenth Day I think, as well as my poor wooden Calendar would reckon; for I markt all upon the Post still;
  1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719, page 219
  “What does the clock mark now?”“Eight minutes to seven.”
  1875, Benjamin Farjeon, At the Sign of the Silver Flagon‎, New York: Harper, Part 3, Chapter 2, p. 84
7. To create (a mark) on a surface.
  Quotations
  […] 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
  […] I was testing a stack of old whitewalls, dunking them in the water and marking a yellow chalk circle around each leak.
  1988, Barbara Kingsolver, chapter 6, in The Bean Trees‎, New York: HarperCollins, page 82
8. To celebrate or acknowledge (an event) through an action of some kind.
  Quotations
  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 US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, page 276
9. (of things) To identify (someone as a particular type of person or as having a particular role).
  Quotations
  […] 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
  The black dress, gold cross on the watch-chain, the hairless face, and the soft, black wideawake hat would have marked him as a holy man anywhere in all India.
  1901, Rudyard Kipling, chapter 5, in Kim‎, London: Macmillan, published 1902, page 115
  His long thin falling-away cheekbones marked him as a member of either the Xhosa or Zulu tribe.
  1968, Bessie Head, chapter 1, in When Rain Clouds Gather‎, Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, published 2013, page 1
  Enquiring about the movement of trains—even if you were a passenger on one—could mark you as a saboteur.
  2016, Julian Barnes, The Noise of Time‎, Random House, Prologue
10. (of people) To assign (someone) to a particular category or class.
  Quotations
  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
11. (of people) To choose or intend (someone) for a particular end or purpose.
  Quotations
  When a king, hath once markt for his hate, / A man inferior; […] / […] euermore, he rakes vp in his brest, / Brands of quicke anger;The spelling has been modernized.
  , Homer, “Book I”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter; The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, 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
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.
  Quotations
  […] we hastened toward the bordering desert which marked our entrance into the realm of Tal Hajus.
  1912 February–July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Under the Moons of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co.; republished as chapter 16, in A Princess of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., 1917 October, page 172
  Although the Second World War marked a turning away from inorganic chemicals as pesticides into the wonder world of the carbon molecule, a few of the old materials persist.
  1962, Rachel Carson, chapter 3, in Silent Spring‎, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 17
  My grandfather’s short employ at the Ford Motor Company marked the only time any Stephanides has ever worked in the automobile industry.
  2002, Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex‎, New York: Farrar, Straux, Giroux, page 93
13. To be typical or characteristic of (something).
  Quotations
  […] he still retained that simple, unostentatious elegance, that marks the man of real fashion—
  1818, Susan Ferrier, chapter 18, in Marriage‎, volume 3, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, page 264
  “Ah,” replied Roger Chillingworth, with that quietness which […] marked all his deportment,
  1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 9, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields
  […] Cyril’s attitude to his mother was marked by a certain benevolent negligence
  1908, Arnold Bennett, The Old Wives’ Tale‎, New York: Modern Library, published 1911, Book 4, Chapter 1, p. 487
14. To distinguish (one person or thing from another).
  Quotations
  Indeed the smoke was such they scarce could markTheir friends from foes,
  1823 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos VI.—VII.—and VIII., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John Hunt, […], canto VIII, stanza 130, page 313
  Despite their obvious differences these poets had a common view of life which marks them from their predecessors […]
  1943, Maurice Bowra, chapter 1, in The Heritage of Symbolism‎, London: Macmillan, published 1954, page 2
  Each day was so like the day before, and Christmas Day, when it came, would not have anything to mark it from all the others.
  1983, Elizabeth George Speare, chapter 24, in The Sign of the Beaver,‎, New York: Dell, published 1984, page 127
15. (dated except in the phrase "mark my words") To focus one's attention on (something or someone); to pay attention to, to take note of.
  Quotations
  More are men’s ends mark’d than their lives before:
  1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene 1]
  I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick: nobody marks you.
  1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i]
  Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Psalms 37:37
  When they had passed out of the wood into the pasture-land beyond, Ruth once more turned to mark him.
  1853, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter 5, in Ruth‎, volume 1, London: Chapman and Hall, page 137
  “When Wolsey came down, I said, mark him, he’s a sharp fellow. […] ”
  2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall‎, New York: Henry Holt, Part 6, Chapter 2, p. 522
16. (dated) To become aware of (something) through the physical senses.
  Quotations
  Some of them [the Animals] coming forward near the place where I lay, gave me an opportunity of distinctly marking their Form.
  1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], (please specify |part=I to IV), page 1
  He bent his eyes involuntarily upon the father as he spoke, and marked his uneasiness, for he coloured directly and turned his head away.
  1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 53, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, page 525
  […] it is to be remembered that a poor speller is a poor pronouncer. The ear does not mark the sound any more exactly than the eye marks the letters.
  1881, John Bascom, “Improvements in Language” in The Western: A Journal of Literature, Education, and Art, New Series, Volume 7, No. 6, December, 1881, p. 499
  Helm had a great horn, and soon it was marked that before he sallied forth he would blow a blast upon it that echoed in the Deep;
  1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King‎, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, published 1965, Appendix A, pp. 347-348
17. To hold (someone) in one's line of sight.
  Quotations
  I marked my man, standing on the catwalk, and waited to throw [my javelin] till he started to climb inboard before they rammed.
  1956, Mary Renault, chapter 22, in The Last of the Wine‎, New York: Pantheon, page 268
18. (Canada, UK) To indicate the correctness of and give a score to (a school assignment, exam answers, etc.).
19. To record that (someone) has a particular status.
20. (transitive, intransitive) To keep account of; to enumerate and register; to keep score.
  Quotations
  Dan was to mark while the doctor and I played [billiards].
  1869, Mark Twain, chapter 12, in The Innocents Abroad‎, Hartford, CT: American Publishing Company, page 116
21. (sports) To follow a player not in possession of the ball when defending, to prevent them receiving a pass easily.
22. (Australian rules football) 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. (golf) To put a marker in the place of one's ball.
24. (singing) To sing softly, sometimes an octave lower than usual, in order to protect one's voice during a rehearsal.

mark²

/mɑːk/

noun
plural marks
1. (historical) A half pound, a traditional unit of mass equivalent to 226.8 g.
2. (historical) Similar half-pound units in other measurement systems, chiefly used for gold and silver.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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.

mark³

/mɑːk/

noun
plural mark or marks
1. (historical) A former currency of Germany and West Germany.
  Quotations
  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

mark⁴

/mɑːk/

verb
1. (imperative, marching) Alternative form of march.

Definition of "mark"

mark1

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mark2

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mark4

verb

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