Mark
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Name
Originates from latin meaning martial. From a Roman clan name (Marcius) and first name (Marcus) that are both believed to be related to Mars, the god of war. A similar form is Marcellus, or "little Mark", which gives names such as the French Marcel and the Italian Marcello. The second Gospel was written by Mark, who apparently had many of the firsthand details from Peter, the leader of the twelve apostles. Mark is said to have traveled to Italy, and the name has always been popular there, especially in Venice, where the famous church of St. Mark is located. In the thirteenth century, the Venetian Marco Polo visited the court of Kublai Khan and brought back the first accurate description of China. The name was introduced in England about the same time, but it was seldom used until the 1800s, when it was adopted in Britain and the United States. However, the widely known American author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) took his pen name not from Mark but from an expression used by Mississippi riverboat pilots. It dropped from fashion early in this century, and then in the 1960s, it began a strong revival.
Variations of the name Mark: Marc, Marco, Marcos, Marcus
As well as being a popular male name, Mark is the name of several things of interest:
Biblical
- Mark the Evangelist - one of the gospel writers of the life of Jesus.
- Gospel of Mark - the gospel of Mark the Evangelist.
- "The Mark" refers to the forced use of the alleged name of the Antichrist or the presumed "Number of the Beast" (666), which it is claimed will be required to be imposed upon all persons as a condition of being able to engage in commerce as noted in the Book of Revelation of the Christian Bible.
Measurement and currency
- Mark - an archaic European unit of weight whose use for precious metal gave rise to the currencies.
- Gold mark - the currency of the German Empire
- Deutsche Mark - the name of the former currency of Germany, now replaced by the euro.
- East German mark or Ostmark - the name of the former currency in German Democratic Republic, replaced by the Deutsche Mark upon that state's unification with the Federal Republic of Germany.
- Markka or Finnish mark - the name of the former currency in Finland, now replaced by the euro.
- Mark - a former unit of account in England.
- Convertible Mark - the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Geography
- Marks, Mississippi - a town in the United States
- Mark Municipality - a municipality in Sweden.
- Mark Hundred - a hundred in Westrogorhia, Sweden
- A Mark or "Earldom" - medieval state in Westphalia, part of the Holy Roman Empire.
- In German, Mark (in English, "Margravate") also denotes a border area of the Holy Roman empire. It was ruled by a markgraf, or "Margrave". Examples are the Altmark, Neumark, and Mark Brandenburg.
Literature and legend
- Mark is a King of Cornwall in Arthurian legend.
- "The Mark" - colloquial name for the fictional land of the Riddermark, Rohan in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The name was probably taken from the German above.
Slang
- A "mark" - the slang term for the victim of a con game or as an intended victim of an assassination.
- Hence, a professional wrestling "mark" -- the slang term for a fan who believes what they see is legitimate.
- When a trademark is used as a brand name to identify a product, or a service mark is used to identify the producer of services, either type is commonly referred to as a mark.
Surname
Technology
- Mark (computing) - a delimiter at the beginning or end of a transmission sequence.
- Mark frequency - in radio transmission; see frequency-shift keying.
Sport
Football
- To mark in association football (or soccer) is to have a player follow an opposing striker or other prominent player, and attempt to prevent them getting control of the ball and/or scoring.
- A mark in Australian Rules Football is a "clean" catch from a kick by another player, from either team. For a mark to be paid the ball must not have touched the ground or another player. A player taking a mark is entitled to a free kick, from behind the point at which the ball was caught.