Mark

How to spell mark

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce mark

What does mark mean?

1. nounA visible spot, line, or stain on a surface, or a sign that indicates something.
2. verbTo make a visible sign on something, or to assess and grade written work.
3. nounA point or score awarded for performance in an exam or assessment.

Mark in a sentence

• noun

  A faint mark remained on the carpet after the spill.

• verb

  Please mark the box clearly with your return address.

• noun

  She earned a top mark on the final chemistry paper.

• noun

  The inspector left a chalk mark on each crate she had checked.

• verb

  The teacher stayed late to mark a stack of essays.

• noun

  One careless error cost him a full mark on the test.

Where does mark come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends directly from Old English mearc, which meant a boundary, a border, or a sign set up to define one. It belongs to a broad Germanic family, sharing roots with Old Norse mork and German Mark, all carrying the original idea of an edge or a marked limit between territories. Over the centuries the sense widened from a physical boundary line to any visible spot, stamp, or token that signals something, and then to the act of making such a sign. Because the early meaning was about borders, the same root gave rise to words like 'march' in the sense of a frontier district, and even the old German currency the Mark, named for a measured weight of metal. The spelling has stayed remarkably stable and phonetic, which is why mark gives modern writers almost no trouble.

How the word is built

• mark (from Old English mearc: boundary, sign)