An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Marke

by Friedrich Kluge

Marke, feminine, ‘mark, token’; from Middle High German marc (genitive markes), neuter, ‘sign’; compare Dutch marke, ‘mark, characteristic’; Anglo-Saxon mearc, neuter, English mark, Old Icelandic mark, neuter, ‘sign’; Gothic *mark is wanting. Whether these cognates are connected with those of Mark (1), ‘frontier, marches,’ literally ‘border,’ is uncertain; the meaning ‘frontier,’ which was proved by the allied languages to be primitive, can scarcely be the starting point for ‘sign’; the contrary is the more probable. It has with greater reason been compared with Lithuanian márgas, ‘variegated.’ Compare merken. From Teutonic a Romance class is derived; compare French marque, remarquer, &c.