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demarcation

 - 3 dictionary results

de⋅mar⋅ca⋅tion

  [dee-mahr-key-shuhn]
Use demarcation in a Sentence
–noun
1. the determining and marking off of the boundaries of something.
2. separation by distinct boundaries: line of demarcation.
Also, de⋅mar⋅ka⋅tion.

Origin:
1720–30; Latinization of Sp demarcación (in linea de demarcación line of demarcation, dividing the world between Spain and Portugal) deriv. of demarcar to mark out the bounds of, equiv. to de- de- + marcar < It marcare < Gmc; see mark 1 , -ation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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de·mar·ca·tion also de·mar·ka·tion   (dē'mär-kā'shən)   
n.  

  1. The setting or marking of boundaries or limits.

  2. A separation; a distinction: a line of demarcation between two rock strata.


[Spanish demarcación, from demarcar, to mark boundaries : de-, off (from Latin dē-; see de-) + marcar, to mark (from Italian marcare, from Old Italian, of Germanic origin; see merg- in Indo-European roots).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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