Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

Dictionary online

æ
þ

mearc

  • noun [ feminine ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
mearc, e; f.
Wright's OE grammar
§66; §178; §367;
a limit, bound, term (of time)
Show examples

  • Ðá ðæs mǽles wæs mearc ágongen

    then was the limit of the time passed,

    • Cd. 83
      • ;
    • Th. 103, 17
      • ;
    • Gen. 1719: 224
      • ;
    • Th. 296, 13
      • ;
    • Sat. 501.

  • Him ðæt tó mearce wearþ hé ðǽr feorhwunde hleát

    that proved his life's limit; there his death-wound he got,

    • Beo. Th. 4758
      • ;
    • B. 2384.
a limit, boundary (of place),
Show examples

  • Beó ðǽr gemeten nygon fét of ðam stacan tó ðære mearce (

    the limit up to which the hot iron had to be carried;

    cf.
    • Grmm. R. A. 918
      • ),
    • L. Ath. iv. 7
      • ;
    • Th. i. 226, 13.

  • Hé hæfþ heora mearce swá gesette ðæt hié ne mót heore mearce gebrǽdan ofer ða stillan eorþan

    ut fluctus avidum mare certo fine coerceat, ne terris liceat vagis latos tendere terminos,

    • Bt. 21
      • ;
    • Fox 74, 27: Bt. Met. Fox 11, 129, 139, 146
      • ;
    • Met. 11, 65, 70, 73: 20, 177
      • ;
    • Met. 20, 89.

  • Swá ðæt heora nán óðres mearce ne ofereode,

    • Bt. 33, 4
      • ;
    • Fox 128, 32.
a boundary ( = gemǽre) of a particular estate
Show examples

  • Ðis is eástmærc tó stánmere ... swá tó Rithmærce,

    • Cod. Dip. B. 280, 18, 12.

  • Swá be mearce ... ðonon súð andlang mearce,

    • 148, 31-37.

  • His metis rus hoc gyratur ... forþ on ða mearce ... andlang mearce ... ðonon tó Æðelbirhtes mearce ... ðonan forþ on ða mearce tó Beonetlégæ gæmǽre ... ðonan west on ða mearce ðǽr Ælfstán líþ on hǽðenan byrgels ... ðonan Wulfstanes mearce,

    • Cod. Dip. Kmbl. iii. 130, 26-131, 13.

  • Be rihtre mearce (cf. be gerihtum gemǽre, l. 22) tó ðǽm gemǽrþornan; ðæt tó ðære reádan róde; swá forþ be ealdormonnes mearce; á be mearce ðæt hit cymþ on Icenan,

    • 404, 31-405, 2
      • .

  • Heallingwara mearc,

    • 400, 24.
a boundary, confine of a district, border
Show examples

  • Sí swá hwǽr swá hit sý, swá be norþan mearce, swá be súþan, á of scíre on óðre,

    • L. Ath. v. 8, 4
      • ;
    • Th. i. 236, 26: 4
      • ;
    • Th. i. 232, 19.

  • Cépeman oððe óðerne ðe sió ofer mearce cuman,

    • L. H. E. 15
      • ;
    • Th. i. 32, 17: L. Wih. 8
      • ;
    • Th, i. 38, 17.
  • (Thorpe in the last two examples would take mearc to be the limit of an estate.)

  • Ðú symle furðor feohtan sóhtest mǽl ofer mearce,

    • Wald. 1, 33
      • ;
    • Vald. 1, 19.

  • Ðæt is ðonne ðæt mon his mearce brǽde ... hira mearce mid tó rýmanne

    terminum suum dilatare est ... ad dilatandum terminum suum

  • (cf. getryman hira landgemǽru, 4),

    • Past. 48, 2
      • ;
    • Swt. 367, 13-15: Cd. 136
      • ;
    • Th. 171, 19
      • ;
    • Gen. 2830.

  • Unc módige ymb mearce sittaþ (

    sit on our borders

    ),
    • 91
      • ;
    • Th. 114, 21
      • ;
    • Gen. 1907.

  • Merce gemǽrde wið Myrgingum,

    • Exon. 85 a
      • ;
    • Th. 321, 6
      • ;
    • Víd. 42.

  • Hé surne on wræcsíð forsende sume on óðra mearca gesette

    alios avulsos a sedibus suis, alios in extremis regni terminis statuit,

    • Ors. 3, 7
      • ;
    • Swt. 114, 34.
the territory within the boundaries; fines
Show examples

  • Hit wæs geond ealle Rómána mearce ðæt

    it was the custom throughout all the Roman territories

    (cf.
    O. Sax. thero marka giwald égan to succeed to the throne
    ),
    • Bt. 37, 4
      • ;
    • Fox 100, 13.

  • Hwílum wycg byreþ mec ofer mearce, hwílum merehengest fereþ ofer flódas,

    • Exon. 104 a
      • ;
    • Th. 395, 11
      • ;
    • Rä. 15, 6.

  • Mearce healdan

      (or
    • II. c
      • ),
    • Cd. 98
      • ;
    • Th. 128, 32
      • ;
    • Gen. 2135.

  • Nǽfre on his weorþige weá áspringe mearce má scýte máninwides

    non defecit de plateis ejus usura, et dolus,

    • Ps, Th. 54, 10.
Etymology
[
Goth. markós; pl. borders (of a country)
:
O. Sax. marka border, district
:
O. L. Ger. marka district
:
O. Frs. merke limit, district
:
Icel. mörk a forest; in compounds, a border-land, district
:
O. H. Ger. marcha, marka limes, confinium, terminus, fines
:
Lat. margo.
]
Similar entries
v. éðel-, first-, land-, leód-, tæl-, þeód-, Weder-mearc; ge-mearc, ge-mirce, and the following compounds with mearc-; and cf. these with compounds of mǽr-. On the mark see Stubbs' Const. Hist. i. 49-52, and Kemble's Saxons in England, vol. i.
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/22482.

Checked: 1
Full form

Word-wheel

  • mearc, n.

Copyright

All the data provided here are free for any purpose. If you use the data for academic purposes, we ask that you kindly cite us as your source. In case you need a large portion of the dictionary data or you need it in a specific format, let us know through the contact form, we are happy to do custom database dumps for researchers.

How to cite

You can cite the entries of the online version of the dictionary, or you can cite the scanned pages of the original paper editions.

  • To cite the online version of the dictionary, click the icon right under the entry.
  • To cite the scanned paper version of the dictionary, click the "show/hide this scanned page" link under the entry, check the scan and use the citation information right above it.