demarcation

demarcation
\ \ [18] As its form and meaning would suggest, demarcation is indeed related to mark, but only in a distinctly roundabout way.
\ \ The word comes, possibly via French, from Spanish demarcación, a derivative of the verb demarcarmark out the boundaries of’, which in turn is descended ultimately from the same prehistoric Germanic ancestor as English marksign, trace’. It originally came into English in very specific application to the boundary line between the Spanish and Portuguese spheres of influence in the New World, as laid down by Pope Alexander VI in a bull of 4 May 1493. In Spanish this was the linea de demarcación (in Portuguese, linha de demarcação). By the middle of the 18th century the word was being used in English in much more general contexts.
\ \ The familiar modern phrase demarcation dispute, relating to inter-union squabbles, dates from the 1930s.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • démarcation — [ demarkasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • 1700; p. ê. esp. demarcacion, de demarcar « marquer » → démarquer 1 ♦ Action de limiter; ce qui limite. ⇒ délimitation, frontière, limitation, séparation. « ne pas reconnaître de frontière fixe, de démarcation absolue,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • demarcation — de‧mar‧ca‧tion [ˌdiːmɑːˈkeɪʆn ǁ ɑːr ] noun [uncountable] HUMAN RESOURCES when different jobs are given to workers belonging to different trade unions: demarcation between • The company is trying to break down the lines of demarcation between… …   Financial and business terms

  • Demarcation — is the act of creating a boundary around a place or thing. Demarcation may also refer to: Demarcation line, a temporary border between the countries Demarcation problem, the question of what theories or beliefs lie within the boundaries of… …   Wikipedia

  • Demarcation — De mar*ca tion, n. [F. d[ e]marcation; pref. d[ e] (L. de) + marquer to mark, of German origin. See {Mark}.] The act of marking, or of ascertaining and setting a limit; separation; distinction. [1913 Webster] The speculative line of demarcation,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • demarcation — DEMARCATION. s. f. Ce mot s est dit originairement De la ligne qui fut tirée sur la Mappemonde pour séparer les possessions Espagnoles hors de l Europe des possessions Portugaises. Ligne de démarcation. [b]f♛/b] Il se dit en général au propre, De …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • Demarcation — (v. fr.), Abgrenzung; daher Demarcationslinie, 1) Linie, welche zwei im Waffenstillstand od. im Frieden in der Besetzung eines Gebietes eines Dritten begriffene Armeen vermöge Verträge von einander trennt. Meist folgt sie, so weit als möglich,… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Demarcation — Demarcation, Abgränzung, Gränzbestimmung. Von den D.slinien sind die bedeutendsten: die Alexanders VI., durch welche Spaniern und Portugiesen für ihre Entdeckungen od. Eroberungen die Gränzlinie gezogen wurde (15. Jahrh.); die preuß. von 1795,… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • demarcation — index definition, discrimination (differentiation), limitation, outline (boundary), periphery, restriction …   Law dictionary

  • demarcation — c.1752, from Sp. linea de demarcacion or Port. linha de demarcaçao, name of the line laid down by Pope Alexander VI, May 4, 1493, dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal on a line 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Applied from …   Etymology dictionary

  • demarcation — [n] boundary, division bound, confine, delimitation, differentiation, distinction, enclosure, limit, margin, separation, split, terminus; concept 745 …   New thesaurus

  • demarcation — ► NOUN 1) the action of fixing boundaries or limits. 2) a dividing line. ORIGIN Spanish demarcación, originally used with reference to the line dividing the New World between the Spanish and Portuguese, laid down by the Pope in 1493 …   English terms dictionary

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