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demarcation

[dee-mahr-key-shuhn]

noun

the determining and marking off of the boundaries of something.

separation by distinct boundaries: line of demarcation.

Also, de·mar·ka·tion.

Origin:
1720–30; Latinization of Spanish demarcación (in linea de demarcación line of demarcation, dividing the world between Spain and Portugal) derivative of demarcar to mark out the bounds of, equivalent to de- de- + marcar < Italian marcare < Germanic; see mark¹, -ation

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To demarcation

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Demarcation is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

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Example Sentences

She makes a demarcation between her public and private lives and counts few dance insiders among her close circle.

Frequently, a clear line of demarcation is established only through litigation.

Now, the lines of demarcation are blurry, the raised-letter wordings less exact.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

demarcation or demarkation (ˌdiːmɑːˈkeɪʃən)

—n
1.	the act of establishing limits or boundaries
2.	a limit or boundary
3.	a. a strict separation of the kinds of work performed by members of different trade unions
	b. (as modifier): demarcation dispute
4.	separation or distinction (often in the phrase line of demarcation)

[C18: Latinized version of Spanish demarcación, from demarcar to appoint the boundaries of, from marcar to mark, from Italian marcare, of Germanic origin; see mark¹]

demarkation or demarkation

—n

[C18: Latinized version of Spanish demarcación, from demarcar to appoint the boundaries of, from marcar to mark, from Italian marcare, of Germanic origin; see mark¹]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

demarcation

c.1752, from Sp. linea de demarcacion, or Port. linha de demarcaçao, line laid down by the Pope, 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.

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Related Words

green line demarcate

iron curtain Mason-Dixon line

Matching Quote

"... every one is as their land is, as the climate is, as the mountains and the rivers or their oceans are as the wind and rain and snow and ice and heat and moisture is, they just are and that makes them have their way to eat their way to drink their way to act their way to think and their way to be subtle, and even if the lines of demarcation are only made with a ruler after all what is inside those right angles is different from those on the outside of those right angles, any American knows that."

-Gertrude Stein

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demarcation

de·mar·ca·tion