march

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An organized walk by many people to protest or support something.

   Thousands joined the march for cleaner air.

2. 2
   verb

   To walk with regular, even steps, especially as a group.

   The soldiers marched across the square in perfect lines.

3. 3
   noun

   Steady forward progress or movement over time.

   Nothing can stop the march of new technology.

4. 4
   noun

   A piece of music with a strong, steady beat for marching.

   The band played a lively march as the parade began.

Simplified etymology

March in the sense “walk in a military manner” came from French marcher “to walk” in the late Middle Ages. The unrelated noun meaning “border” or “frontier” also came from French and is probably related to mark through the idea of a boundary marker. The month March is named after Mars, the Roman god of war, and was originally the first month of the Roman calendar.

From Middle English marchen, from Middle French marcher (“to march, walk”), from Old French marchier (“to stride, to march, to trample”), from Frankish *markōn (“to mark, mark out, to press with the foot”), from Proto-Germanic *markōną (“to mark”). Akin to Old English mearc, ġemearc (“mark, boundary”). Compare mark, from Old English mearcian. Compare typologically Russian сле́довать (slédovatʹ) (akin to след (sled)). Also compare пятно́ (pjatnó) (<~ пята́ (pjatá)).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary