"mark off, fix the limits or boundaries of," 1650s, abstracted from demarcation and altered by influence of mark (v.).
Entries linking to demark
demarcation n.
"act of marking off limits or boundaries," 1737, from Spanish linea de demarcacion or Portuguese linha de demarcaçao, name of the line laid down by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal on a line 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Applied from 1801 to other lines dividing regions. From Spanish de- (see de-) + marcar "to mark the boundaries of," from a Germanic source (see mark (n.1)).
mark v.
"to put a mark on," Old English mearcian (West Saxon), merciga (Anglian) "to trace out boundaries;" in late Old English "make a mark or marks on," from Proto-Germanic *markojan (source also of Old Norse merkja, Old Saxon markon "appoint, observe, remark," Old Frisian merkia, Old High German marchon "to limit, plan out," German merken "to mark, note," Middle Dutch and Dutch merken "to set a mark on"), from the root of mark (n.1).
Influenced by the Scandinavian cognates. Meaning "to have a mark" is from c. 1400; that of "to notice, observe" is late 14c. Figurative sense of "designate as if by placing a mark on," hence "to destine," is from late Old English. Meaning "be a noteworthy feature of" is by 1660s. To mark time (1833) is from military drill, originally "move the feet as if marching but remain in place."
The verbs in Romanic are from the nouns, which are early borrowings from Germanic: Old French merchier "to mark, note, stamp, brand," French marquer "to mark," Spanish marcar, Italian marcare.
demarcate v.
1816, "mark off from adjoining lands or territory," a back-formation from demarcation. Figurative sense of "determine the relative limits of" is by 1858. Related: Demarcated; demarcating. The older verb is demark.