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mearc

  • noun [ feminine ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
mearc, a mark, <b>mearc</b> a limit. [These may be taken under one head, see N. E. D. mark.]
Wright's OE grammar
§66; §178; §367;
Add: a weak form mearce occurs Angl. viii. 326,
    11, and a neuter mearc Gr. D. 197, 4.
a boundary
of land
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  • Istis terminibus terra circumgyrata esse videtur. , . Ǽrest Ælfgýðe mearc .. . oþ Eádgife mearce, þonae þonan tó þæs biscopes mearce,

      Cht. E. 176, 16-21.

  • Eást tó mearchlince; and swá eást be ðæs bisceopes mearce; ðonon be Byrhtswýðe mearce,

      C. D. vi. 33, 22-25.
of immaterial things
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  • Findan hwylce dæge seó mearke, ꝥ ys se termen, gá on tún . . . geríst hyt ꝥ seó tíd hæbbe mearke hwænne heó tó síge crístenum folce tó blisse,

      Angl. viii. 326, 11-14.
a stone or other monument set up or standing as a memorial or as a guide
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  • Hé ásette for tácne and to mearce on þǽre stówe þrý stánas (cf. hé mearcode þá stówe, Hml. Th. ii. 160, 35)

    tres petras in loco eodem pro signo posuit,

      Gr. D. 112, 29.
a standard, an ensign
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  • Nymað þá sigefæstan mearca

    uictricia tollite signa,

      Ælfc. Gr. Z. 71, 10.
an object placed to indicate a point to be reached
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  • Beó þǽr gemeten nygon fét of þám stacan tó þǽre mearce,

      Ll. Th. i. 226, 13.
a sign, token, indication, symptom
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  • Him næs nán deáðes mearc on gesewen,

      Hml. S. 23, 436.
a sign affixed or impressed for distinction,
a device, stamp, &c., placed on an article as an indication of ownership, as a means of identification, &c.
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  • Man mid mearce gecýþe ꝥ man riht drífe,

      Ll. Th. i. 352, 6.
a visible sign or badge assumed by or imposed on a person
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  • Antecríst forbýt ǽlcum men áðor tó bycganne oððe tó syllanne, bútan hé on his foranheáfde habbe his mearce,

      Wlfst. 200, 4.

  • Hé Pætres mearce onféng

    accepta tonsura,

      Bd. 3, 18; Sch. 274, 4.
a character made with a pen by an illiterate person in place of a signature
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  • Ꝥ gewrit mid his ágenre hand hé áuríte, oððe gif hé ná can stafas óðer fram him gebeden wríte ; and se nícumena mearce dó (cf. hé sylfon þám gewrite róde tácn mearcige

    signum facial,

      R. Ben. 101, 6), R. Ben. I. 98, 1.
a written symbol
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  • Ic hæbbe gesett áne mearke beforan þám rǽdingun, anð þá ic wylle hér ámearkian,

      Angl. viii. 333, 14.
a visible trace or impression diversifying a surface, as a line, written character, or the like
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  • Hí ymb hine gemearcodon ánne hriug on þǽre eorðan and hé wæs belocen binnan þǽm mearce (mearcan, v.l.) þæs hringes

    ei in terra circulum designaverunt, et designatione circuli inclusus est,

      Gr. D. 197, 4.

  • Mearcum

    caracteribus (literarum),

      An. Ox. 8, 259.

  • Notera mearca

    notariorum caracteres,

    2847.
  • V- Dene-, irþ-, wiht-mearc.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “mearc.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/55183.

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Word-wheel

  • mearc, n.

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