demarcate

[ dih-mahr-keyt, dee-mahr-keyt ]

verb (used with object)

, de·mar·cat·ed, de·mar·cat·ing.

1. to determine or mark off the boundaries or limits of:

   to demarcate a piece of property.

2. to separate distinctly:

   to demarcate the lots with fences.

demarcate

/ ˈdiːmɑːˌkeɪt /

verb

1. to mark, fix, or draw the boundaries, limits, etc, of
2. to separate or distinguish between (areas with unclear boundaries)

Derived Forms

• ˈdemarˌcator, noun

Other Words From

• de·marca·tor noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of demarcate¹

First recorded in 1810–20; back formation from demarcation

Example Sentences

For millennia, humans have been “up with the chickens,” demarcating time by the rooster’s crow.

From Nautilus

They’re helpfully demarcated on the eastern side of the freeway.

From Vox

Moving a cursor inside the narrowly demarcated blast radius one comes across dots or particles that can be clicked on.

From Washington Post

Sam’s room was the living room and had a hanging sheet demarcating it.

From Ozy

The discovery of the genome a century after Darwin published On the Origin of Species seemed to demarcate an upper limit.

From Nautilus

We used Flor Fedora carpet tiles to demarcate the display areas, in place of heavy platforms.

From The Daily Beast

Out at Hillside the stones that demarcate the territory of an old-fashioned house are new and snowily whitewashed.

From Project Gutenberg

General Liu and I proposed to demarcate south of the Taiping.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• delimit
• mark off