a visible impression or trace on something, as a line, cut, dent, stain, or bruise: a small mark on his arm.
2.
a badge, brand, or other visible sign assumed or imposed: a mark of his noble rank.
3.
a symbol used in writing or printing: a punctuation mark.
4.
a sign, usually an X or cross, made instead of a signature by someone who does not know how or is unable to write his or her own name.
5.
an affixed or impressed device, symbol, inscription, etc., serving to give information, identify, indicate origin or ownership, attest to character or comparative merit, or the like, as a trademark.
6.
a sign, token, or indication: to bow as a mark of respect.
7.
a symbol used in rating conduct, proficiency, attainment, etc., as of pupils in a school: good marks; bad marks.
8.
something serving as an indication of position, as a landmark.
9.
a recognized or required standard of quality, accomplishment, etc.; norm: His dissertation was below the mark.
10.
distinction or importance; repute; note: a man of mark.
11.
a distinctive trait or characteristic: the usual marks of a gentleman.
12.
(usually initial capital letter) U.S. Military. a designation for an item of military equipment in production, used in combination with a numeral to indicate the order of adoption, and often abbreviated: a Mark-4 tank; an M-1 rifle.
13.
an object aimed at; target: to aim at the mark.
14.
an object or end desired or striven for; goal.
15.
Slang.
a.
an object of derision, scorn, manipulation, or the like: He was an easy mark for criticism.
b.
the intended victim of a swindler, hustler, or the like: The cardsharps picked their marks from among the tourists on the cruise ship.
Nautical. any of the distinctively marked points on a deep-sea lead line, occurring at levels of 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17, and 20 fathoms above the lead. Compare deep(def. 33).
21.
a tract of land that may have been held in common by a primitive or early medieval community of peasants in Germany.
22.
Archaicor History/Historical. a boundary; frontier.
–verb (used with object)
23.
to be a distinguishing feature of: a day marked by rain.
24.
to put a mark or marks on: to mark each box with an X.
25.
to give a grade for; put a grade on: to mark the final exams.
on your mark or marks! (in calling the start of a race) take your places: On your mark! Get set! Go! Also, get ready!, ready!
45.
wide of the mark, far from the target or objective; inaccurate or irrelevant: My first guess was wide of the mark.
[Origin: bef. 900; (n.) ME; OE mearc mark, sign, banner, dividing line, borderland; c. G Mark borderland, unit of weight, ON mǫrk forest (orig., borderland), unit of weight, Goth marka boundary, borderland, L margōmargin; (v.) ME marken, OE mearcian; c. OFris merkia, OHG marchōn, ON marka to plan]
mark, designation for the free village community that was supposed to have been the unit of primitive German social life. According to a theory formulated in the 19th cent. by Georg Ludwig von Maurer and others, the mark was composed of free men in voluntary association, holding lands communally, and governed by a chief elected for a short term. The theory was expanded by other scholars, among them Edward Augustus Freeman, but it later was bitterly attacked by the historians N. D. Fustel de Coulanges and Frederic Seebohm. It has become generally accepted that Roman as well as Germanic institutions influenced the formation of the medieval manorial system and that the idyllic democratic society depicted by Maurer never existed. See village.
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