*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Mark

From Middle English Mark, from the Latin praenomen (i.e. first name) Mārcus, derived from Mārs, the Roman god of war, originally Māvors, from Proto-Italic *Māwortis.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗
noun

Abbreviation of Markarian.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English Mark, from the Latin praenomen (i.e. first name) Mārcus, derived from Mārs, the Roman god of war, originally Māvors, from Proto-Italic *Māwortis.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "Mark"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English Mark"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "itc-pro",
        "3": "*Māwortis"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Italic *Māwortis"
    }
  ],
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    ],
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      "Marcus#Latin"
    ],
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      "Mārs",
      "Mars#Latin"
    ],
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      "Māvors",
      "Mavors#Latin"
    ],
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      "*Māwortis",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/Māwortis"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Abbreviation of Markarian."
      ],
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Unnumbered source etymology · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗
name

A male given name from Latin. · A surname. · Mark the Evangelist, also called John Mark, the first patriarch of Alexandria, credited with the authorship of the Gospel of Mark. · The Gospel of St. Mark, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the second of the four gospels.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English Mark, from the Latin praenomen (i.e. first name) Mārcus, derived from Mārs, the Roman god of war, originally Māvors, from Proto-Italic *Māwortis.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "2": "enm",
        "3": "Mark"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English Mark"
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        "2": "la",
        "3": "-"
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    ],
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    ],
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      "Māvors",
      "Mavors#Latin"
    ],
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      "*Māwortis",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/Māwortis"
    ]
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      "lang_code": "pon",
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      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
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      "lang": "Translingual",
      "lang_code": "mul",
      "word": "markmitchelli",
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      ]
    }
  ],
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      "glosses": [
        "A male given name from Latin.",
        "A surname.",
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Mark →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-TWFyaw