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单词 march
释义

† marchn.1

Forms: early Old English merici, Old English merce, Old English merece (Northumbrian), Old English meric (Northumbrian), Old English myrce, Old English–early Middle English merc, Old English–early Middle English merice, late Old English mearce, Middle English merch, Middle English–1500s marche, Middle English–1600s merche, late Middle English merege, 1500s 1800s march.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Saxon merk , merka (in glosses; Middle Low German merk ), Old High German merc (compare also Old High German merrich ; German Merk ), Old Icelandic merki , Norwegian merke , Old Swedish märke , merkie (Swedish märke ), Danish mærke (in Danish, and sometimes in Swedish, denoting water parsnip, which was formerly included in the genus Apium); the North Germanic forms may represent loans from a West Germanic language. Further etymology uncertain; probably a derivative < the Germanic base of mere n.1 (the plant grows in brackish places and salt marshes), though a connection with more n.1 has also been suggested.Also attested in place names, as Merceham (1086; now Marcham, Oxfordshire), Merceode (1086), Merchewude (1254; now Marchwood, Hampshire), and in compounds, as stanmarch n., wood-march n. at wood n.1 Compounds 2c(b), also Old English swīnes merce, and Middle English moder merche, wilde merche.
Obsolete.
Wild celery, Apium graveolens.In some quots. perhaps denoting other related plants of the family Apiaceae ( Umbelliferae), more usually referred to with distinguishing word, as stanmarch n., wood-march n. at wood n.1 Compounds 2c(b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > stalk vegetables > celery > wild celery
achea1300
smallagea1300
marcha1398
marsh parsley1582
eOE Épinal Gloss. (1974) 4 Apio, merici.
eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 18/2 Apio, merice.
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. lxi. 134 Genim merce nioþoweardne.
OE Ælfric Gloss. (St. John's Oxf.) 311 Apium, merce.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 215v Merche hatte apium, and is a comune herbe.
1525 Herball sig. A.iv Apium is an herbe that men do call Smalache, other Merche [?1543 Marche].
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 68v Hipposelinon hath leues lyke vnto march or smalache, but roughe.
1572 J. Bossewell Wks. Armorie ii. f. 76v A Pyle in poyncte betwene two slippes of Merche, verte.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball v. xlii. 606 Of Marish Parsley, March, or Smallache.
1632 Guillim's Display of Heraldrie (ed. 2) iv. xvi. 353 Apium..is called in English Merche.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 721/1 March, an old name of Parsley.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

Marchn.2

Brit. /mɑːtʃ/, U.S. /mɑrtʃ/
Forms: late Old English Mærc, Middle English Marce, Middle English Mars, Middle English Marz, Middle English Mearch, Middle English Mersch, Middle English Mersh, Middle English Marrch ( Ormulum), Middle English–1600s Marche, Middle English– March, 1500s Marshe; Scottish pre-1700 Marce, pre-1700 Marche, pre-1700 Marchis, pre-1700 Marcis, pre-1700 Marght, pre-1700 Marsh, pre-1700 Merche, pre-1700 Mertche, pre-1700 1700s– Mairch, pre-1700 1700s– March, pre-1700 1700s– Merch.
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French march; Latin Mārtius.
Etymology: Partly < Anglo-Norman march, Old French (Picardy, Hainaut) march, (Flanders) marche, partly < Old French marz , mars (1119; French mars ), and partly < their etymon classical Latin Mārtius, short for mēnsis Mārtius month of Mars < mēnsis month + Mārtius of Mars < Mārt- , Mārs Mars n.1 + -ius, suffix forming adjectives.In Old English and Middle English texts Latin Martius (and variants) is often used for the month (in Old English sometimes alongside the vernacular names Lide n., Hrǣdd, and Hrēdmōnað), e.g.:OE Menologium 36 Hrime gehyrsted, hagolscurum færð geond middangeard Martius reðe, Hlyda healic.OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) ii. i. 70 Ðeah ealle þa monðas synd mid mislicre blisse and wurðscipe geglengde, þeah is Martius swyðost.?a1200 ( tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Harl. 6258B) lxxiv. 17 Þu þeos wyrt scealt niman on þan monðe þe martius hateð.c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §10. 6 Ianuare, Februare, Marcius, Aprile, Mayus. Classical Latin Mārtius > Old Occitan martz (c1150), mars (c1300; Occitan març), Catalan març (1250), Spanish marzo (1207), Portuguese março (1270), Italian marzo (1234); Middle Dutch maerte, marte, merte (Dutch maart), Middle Low German merte, Old High German merzo (Middle High German merze, German März); also Norwegian mars, Swedish mars, Danish marts (which may represent loans < Low German mars-, variant form occurring as first element in compounds); Hellenistic Greek μάρτιος; Turkish mart; Basque martxo. In ancient Rome several festivals of Mars took place in March, presumably in preparation for the campaigning season, since Mars was a god of war.
a. The third month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, containing 31 days and falling between February and April.In the Roman pre-Julian calendar March was the first month.In the northern hemisphere now usually regarded as the first month of spring.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a month or calendar month > specific months > [noun] > March
Lidec1000
MarchlOE
Martii1439
lOE Prognostics (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 91 On Mærces monðe, hit bodeð mycele windes, & wæstmes wel gewænde, & folc unsehte.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1891 Gabriæl Comm till..marȝe..Þatt wass i marrch.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) 71 Þe fowrtuðe kalende of mearch.
c1390 G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale 4378 The monthe in which the world bigan That highte March.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. 2852 Afterward the time is schape To frost, to Snow,..Til eft that Mars be com ayein.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 10926 (MED) Þe dai þat hir was send þis saand O marz þe fiue and tuentiand.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 326 (MED) Marche, monythe: Marcius.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 235 Merche with his caild blastis keyne Hes slane this gentill herbe.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry f. 39 Seedes & herbes for the kichen... Oyneons from December to Marche.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. i. 1 Cæs. The Ides of March are come. Sooth. I Cæsar, but not gone. View more context for this quotation
1640 J. Smyth Prov. (1885) III. 31 When the crow begins to build then sheepe begin to yealde: meaninge, that the fall of rotten sheepe is principally in February or March.
1712 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 26 Mar. (1948) II. 525 I forgot to wish you yesterday a happy New Year, You know the 25 of March is the first day of the Year.
a1722 J. Toland Coll. Several Pieces (1726) I. 74 Their other festivals..shall be likewise explain'd..especially that of New-year's day, or the tenth of March.
1805 J. Austen Let. 8 Apr. (1995) 99 Did Bath..ever see a finer 8th of April?—It is March & April together, the glare of one & the warmth of the other.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise I. i. 103 Welcome, O March! whose kindly days and dry Make April ready for the throstle's song.
1926 Travel Nov. 5/1 (advt.) Mr. and Mrs. Blanque..knowing the complete orneriness of our home-grown Februaries and Marches, pack up and..sail for the South.
1938 Life 4 Apr. 3/2 I was thrilled to find in your March 14 issue the splendid coverage of our Mardi Gras.
1978 D. Smith Cookery Course I. 212 There is a period, from about the end of January to the end of March, when fresh vegetables seem a bit thin on the ground.
†b. personified. A figure representing (some characteristic of) March. Obsolete.
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a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 124v Marche is I-peynt as it were, a gardinere.
1821 P. B. Shelley Dirge for Year iv March with grief doth howl and rave.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Gardener's Daughter in Poems (new ed.) II. 20 Love..made..that hair More black than ashbuds in the front of March.
c. In proverbs and proverbial phrases; esp. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. See also March hare n. at Compounds 2, March wind n. at Compounds 1a.
ΚΠ
1609 B. Jonson Case is Alterd (new ed.) iii. sig. K March faire al, for a faire March, is worth a kings ransome.
1612 A. Hopton Concordancy of Yeares xxx. 103 Some say, so many mistes in March, so many hoare frosts after Easter.
a1625 J. Fletcher Wife for Moneth ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Gggggg2/2 Me. I would chuse March, for I would come in like a Lion. To. But you'ld go out like a Lamb, when you went to hanging.
a1633 G. Herbert Outlandish Prov. (1640) sig. D2v February makes a bridge and March breakes it.
1678 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. (ed. 2) 44 March many weathers.
1693 D. Leeds Almanack 7 Notes & Observations the 1st Month, March. The beginning of the first Month commonly concludes the nipping Winter, the end initiates the subsequent wellcome Spring, according to the Proverb, March cometh in like a Lyon, and goes out like a Lamb.
1770 J. Armstrong Univ. Almanac in Misc. I. 212 March many-weathers comes in.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. iv. 102 Like March, having come in like a lion, he purposed to go out like a lamb.
1906 E. B. Holden Country Diary Edwardian Lady (1977) 25 March has come in like a lamb with a warm wind..from the South-west.
1978 R. Whitlock Cal. Country Customs iii A well-known proverb is: So many mists in March, So many frosts in May.
1980 Eastern Evening News (Norwich) 3 Apr. 13 That old proverb of ‘March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb’ proved to be quite the reverse.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
a.
March air n.
ΚΠ
1845 J. Clare Later Poems (1984) I. 227 All bleaching in the thin march air The scattered violets lie.
1863 Ld. Tennyson Welcome to Alexandra 16 Clash, ye bells, in the merry March air!
1992 I. Gower Shoemaker's Daughter (BNC) 71 Emily lifted her head and breathed in the sweet March air.
March-bloom n.
ΚΠ
1877 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 67 Look! March-bloom, like on mealed-with-yellow sallows!
March dust n.
ΚΠ
1533 J. Heywood Play of Wether sig. Cii One bushell of march dust is worth a kynges raunsome.
1557 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandrie sig. D.i A bushel of Marche dust, worth raunsomes of gold.
1685 R. Boyle Exper. Disc. Salubr. Air iii. 55 in Ess. Effects Motion It is proverbially said in England, that a Peck of March Dust is worth a King's Ransom: So unfrequent is dry Weather during that Month, in our Climate.
1936 H. C. Bailey Clue for Mr. Fortune 36 The flower borders..were..stunted by the rigours of that grim March... ‘Bushel of March dust worth a king's ransom,’ Reggie murmured.
March month n.
ΚΠ
a1450–1509 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (A-version) (1913) 2041 (MED) In Marche moneth the Kynge of Fraunce Wente to shyppe.
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. at March The corn looks well now, but 'ow it'll stond the March-month we canna tell.
1960 J. M. Fudge Life Story 12 March month came on and we fished tub racket.
March morning n.
ΚΠ
1842 Ld. Tennyson May Queen (new ed.) Concl. vii, in Poems (new ed.) I. 171 All in the wild March-morning I heard the angels call.
1994 P. R. Ehrlich & S. Naeem Birdwatcher's Year (BNC) 30 We had spent a blustery March morning wielding bill hooks to create 3-foot long sticks from coppiced pussy willow branches.
March wind n.
ΚΠ
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 484/1 I chyppe, as ones handes do,..with the Marche-wynde.
1846 M. A. Denham Coll. Prov. & Pop. Sayings (1846) 36 March winds and April showers Bring forth May flowers.
1970 J. H. B. Peel Country Talk ii. 31 March winds and April showers wait ahead.
b.
March-hatched adj.
ΚΠ
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 79 The March-hatched cockerel gaunt and thin.
1921 F. M. Ford Let. 15 July (1965) 135 March hatched cockerels.
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 5 Jan. 103/1 My February- and March-hatched pullets started to lay.
C2.
† March ale n. Obsolete = March beer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > ale > [noun] > ale brewed at specific season
summer ale1586
March alea1600
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) 38041 Quhair tha suld drink the michtie nobill wyne, With Marche aill and also doubill beir.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iii. 106 Strong March-Ale, surpassing fine Aqua-vitæ.
† March beer n. Obsolete a strong beer with good keeping qualities, brewed in the spring.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > beer > [noun] > other kinds of beer
spruce beerc1500
March beer1535
Lubecks beer1608
zythum1608
household beer1616
bottle1622
mumc1623
old beer1626
six1631
four1633
maize beer1663
mum beer1667
vinegar beer1677
wrest-beer1689
nog1693
October1705
October beer1707
ship-beer1707
butt beer1730
starting beer1735
butt1743
peterman1767
seamen's beer1795
chang1800
treacle beer1806
stock beer1826
Iceland beer1828
East India pale ale1835
India pale ale1837
faro1847
she-oak1848
Bass1849
bitter beer1850
bock1856
treble X1856
Burton1861
nettle beer1864
honey beer1867
pivo1873
Lambic1889
steam beer1898
barley-beer1901
gueuze1926
Kriek1936
best1938
rough1946
keg1949
IPA1953
busaa1967
mbege1972
microbrew1985
microbeer1986
yeast-beer-
1535 Bp. Carlisle Let. 1 Apr. in Lisle Papers (P.R.O.: SP 1/91) f. 181 A tonne of marche ber.
1615 G. Markham Eng. Hus-wife in Countrey Contentments ii. v. 123 For the brewing of the best march Beere..allow to a Hogs-head thereof a quarter of the best malt, well ground.
a1704 T. Brown Last Observator in Duke of Buckingham Wks. (1705) II. ii. 101 Hast with thee brought some..Protestant March-Beer, to raise my Fancy?
1825 T. Doubleday Babington i. ii. 19 Will ye taste a cup of March beer i' the buttery?
March brown n. Angling (more fully March brown fly) any of various large brown mayflies, including (British) Rhithrogena haarupi and Ecdyurus venosus; an artificial fly imitating these.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > real or imitation flies
stone-flya1450
ant-fly1653
hawthorn-fly1653
mayfly1653
oak fly1653
wall-fly1653
pismire-fly1670
cow-lady1676
mayfly1676
owl fly1676
brown1681
cow-turd-fly1684
trout-fly1746
orl fly1747
hazel fly?1758
iron-blue fly?1758
red spinner?1758
Welshman's button?1758
buzz1760
Yellow Sally1766
ash-fly1787
black caterpillar1787
cow-dung fly1787
sharn-fly1787
spinner1787
woodcock-fly1787
huzzard1799
knop-fly1799
mackerel1799
watchet1799
iron blue1826
knob fly1829
mackerel fly1829
March brown1837
cinnamon fly1867
quill gnat1867
sedge-fly1867
cob-fly1870
woodcock wing1888
sedge1889
olive1895
quill1899
nymph1910
green weenie1977
Montana1987
1837 J. Kirkbride Northern Angler 21 Description of flies. The March Brown fly..is one of the most beautiful of all water-flies, and makes its appearance..about the middle of March.
1847 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Compan. 85 March-browns..create, on their appearance, the earliest natural cravings in the fish for surface food.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 12 Apr. 4/2 The fly-catchers,..darting out on a short flight in pursuit of a hovering March Brown or Dun.
1975 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 2 Mar. 14/4 Not only did I manage to drop a March Brown 20 feet away from me [etc.].
1990 Fly Fisherman Dec. 57/1 From tiny Sulphurs to big March Brown duns, this low-floating, high-silhouette fly works extraordinarily well.
† March chick n. Obsolete rare (a) a chicken hatched in March; (b) (in extended use) a precocious youth.
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > fowls > [noun] > chicken
chicken1381
March chick1600
poulet1764
spring chicken1765
chicken meat1826
murgi1863
broiler1876
petit poussin1895
poussin1900
fryer1923
murgh1976
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing i. iii. 52 A very forward March-chicke . View more context for this quotation
March court n. U.S. (now historical) the principal court session of the year, held in March.
ΚΠ
1836 Southern Literary Messenger 2 302 But if court day be thus important, how much more so is March court.
1870 W. M. Leftwich Martyrdom in Missouri 325 At that March Court two indictments were found against me.
March hare n. a brown hare in the breeding season, characterized by much leaping, boxing, and chasing in circles, and taken as the type of something mad.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > mentally ill person > [noun] > mad person
woodman1297
madmanc1330
lunatic1377
franticc1380
madwomana1438
March harec1500
Bedlam beggar1525
fanaticc1525
bedlama1529
frenetic1528
Jack o' Bedlam1528
Tom o' Bedlam1569
crack-brain1570
madbrain1570
Tom1575
madcap1589
gelt1596
madhead1600
brainsick1605
madpash1611
non compos1628
madling1638
bedlam-man1658
bedlamerc1675
fan1682
bedlamite1691
cracka1701
lymphatic1708
shatter-brain1719
mad1729
maniaca1763
non compos mentis1765
shatter-pate1775
shatter-wit1775
insane1786
craze1831
dement1857
crazy1867
crackpot1883
loony1884
bug1885
psychopath1885
dingbat1887
psychopathic1890
ding-a-ling1899
meshuggener1900
détraqué1902
maddiea1903
nut1908
mental1913
ding1929
lakes1934
wack1938
fruitcake1942
nutty1942
barm-pot1951
nutcake1953
nutter1958
nutcase1959
nut job1959
meshuga1962
nutsy1964
headcase1965
nutball1968
headbanger1973
nutso1975
wacko1977
nut bar1978
mentalist1990
c1500 Blowbols Test. 303 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) I. 105 Thanne þey begyn to swere and to stare, And be as braynles as a Marshe hare.
1528 J. Skelton Honorificatissimo: Replycacion agaynst Yong Scolers sig. Aiii I saye, thou madde Marche Hare.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Ciii As mery as a marche hare.
1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xxviii. 238 A March-Hare was never in such a Chaff as I am.
1865 ‘L. Carroll’ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland vi. 90 In that direction..lives a Hatter: and in that direction..lives a March Hare..they're both mad.
1958 N. F. Simpson Resounding Tinkle ii, in Observer Plays 104 We've started a fine lot of hares this evening... March hares... A whole lot of Mad march hares.
1994 Independent on Sunday 16 Oct. (Review Suppl.) 60/3 Boxing pairs of March hares were once thought to be male rivals. Now mammalogists think one of them is female.
† March mad adj. Obsolete rare = as mad as a March hare at hare n. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adjective] > insanity or madness > affected with
woodc725
woodsekc890
giddyc1000
out of (by, from, of) wit or one's witc1000
witlessc1000
brainsickOE
amadc1225
lunaticc1290
madc1330
sickc1340
brain-wooda1375
out of one's minda1387
frenetica1398
fonda1400
formada1400
unwisea1400
brainc1400
unwholec1400
alienate?a1425
brainless1434
distract of one's wits1470
madfula1475
furious1475
distract1481
fro oneself1483
beside oneself1490
beside one's patience1490
dementa1500
red-wood?1507
extraught1509
misminded1509
peevish1523
bedlam-ripe1525
straughta1529
fanatic1533
bedlama1535
daft1540
unsounda1547
stark raving (also staring) mad1548
distraughted1572
insane1575
acrazeda1577
past oneself1576
frenzy1577
poll-mad1577
out of one's senses1580
maddeda1586
frenetical1588
distempered1593
distraught1597
crazed1599
diswitted1599
idle-headed1599
lymphatical1603
extract1608
madling1608
distracteda1616
informala1616
far gone1616
crazy1617
March mada1625
non compos mentis1628
brain-crazed1632
demented1632
crack-brained1634
arreptitiousa1641
dementate1640
dementated1650
brain-crackeda1652
insaniated1652
exsensed1654
bedlam-witteda1657
lymphatic1656
mad-like1679
dementative1685
non compos1699
beside one's gravity1716
hyte1720
lymphated1727
out of one's head1733
maddened1735
swivel-eyed1758
wrong1765
brainsickly1770
fatuous1773
derangedc1790
alienated1793
shake-brained1793
crack-headed1796
flighty1802
wowf1802
doitrified1808
phrenesiac1814
bedlamite1815
mad-braineda1822
fey1823
bedlamitish1824
skire1825
beside one's wits1827
as mad as a hatter1829
crazied1842
off one's head1842
bemadded1850
loco1852
off one's nut1858
off his chump1864
unsane1867
meshuga1868
non-sane1868
loony1872
bee-headed1879
off one's onion1881
off one's base1882
(to go) off one's dot1883
locoed1885
screwy1887
off one's rocker1890
balmy or barmy on (or in) the crumpet1891
meshuggener1892
nutty1892
buggy1893
bughouse1894
off one's pannikin1894
ratty1895
off one's trolley1896
batchy1898
twisted1900
batsc1901
batty1903
dippy1903
bugs1904
dingy1904
up the (also a) pole1904
nut1906
nuts1908
nutty as a fruitcake1911
bugged1920
potty1920
cuckoo1923
nutsy1923
puggled1923
blah1924
détraqué1925
doolally1925
off one's rocket1925
puggle1925
mental1927
phooey1927
crackers1928
squirrelly1928
over the edge1929
round the bend1929
lakes1934
ding-a-ling1935
wacky1935
screwball1936
dingbats1937
Asiatic1938
parlatic1941
troppo1941
up the creek1941
screwed-up1943
bonkers1945
psychological1952
out to lunch1955
starkers1956
off (one's) squiff1960
round the twist1960
yampy1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
out of one's skull1967
whacked out1969
batshit1971
woo-woo1971
nutso1973
out of (one's) gourd1977
wacko1977
off one's meds1986
a1625 J. Fletcher Mad Lover i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Bv/2 Keep him darke, He will run March mad else.
a1625 J. Fletcher Noble Gentleman i. iii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Dd3/2 He is March mad, farewell Monsieur.
March madness n. (a) a form of wild or uncharacteristic behaviour said to affect people in March; (b) U.S. a basketball tournament held in March; (now) esp. (a proprietary name for) the annual Division I basketball championship tournament of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (frequently with capital initials).In sense (a) apparently with allusion to the proverbial madness of March hares; cf. March hare n.
ΚΠ
1825 European Mag. & London Rev. May 413/1 Should we not think it a very March madness to stickle for precedency, when a matter of consequence demanded that we waste not a single moment?
1852 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 20 Mar. To conquer Cuba is the mild dictate of common sense, while to protect American industry is ‘March’ madness!
1917 Sun (Baltimore) 12 Mar. 7/4 She looked as though the melody of Lohengrin's wedding choral was still echoing in her heart, yet she was trying to believe that no one suspected her gay March madness.
1931 Rushville (Indiana) Republican 11 Mar. 2/2 (heading) March Madness. The elimination of Anderson..and Shelbyville were only mere flurries of what is to follow this week at various basketball conventions.
1979 Boston Globe 10 Mar. 23/1 It's all known as the NCAA college basketball tournament, but it also goes by the synonym of March Madness.
2007 Financial Times 31 Mar. 18/2 ‘March Madness!’ scream the adverts. ‘Price crash!’.
March meeting n. U.S. (now historical) the principal town meeting of the year, held in March.
ΚΠ
1728 in Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1882) VIII. 222 If the money appropriated..at the last March meeting be insufficient..Henry Gibbon will advance and pay what falls short.
1867 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. (new ed.) Contents p. vi Mr. Hozea Biglow's Speech in March meeting.
1944 E. A. Holton Yankees were like This 35 Town meeting was a big event in our community... We called it March meeting then.
March moth n. a drab European geometrid moth, Alsophila aescularia, which appears in early spring and has larvae that feed on fruit trees.
ΚΠ
1890 E. A. Ormerod Man. Injurious Insects (ed. 2) 335 March Moth. Anisopteryx æscularia, Schiff.
1964 Sunday Times 2 Feb. (Colour Suppl.) 33 (caption) The male March moth can be seen as early as February if the weather is mild.
1981 S. T. Buczacki & K. M. Harris Collins Guide Pests, Dis. & Disorders Garden Plants 196 March moths lay distinctive bands of eggs around twigs.
March violet n. [probably after Middle French violette de mars (1504)] now rare the sweet violet, Viola odorata.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pea flowers > violet and allied flowers > violet
apple leafa1200
violetc1330
violac1430
March violet1568
blue violet1656
sweet-scented violet1731
Canada violet1771
ladies' delight1809
dame's rocket1866
1568 T. Hacket tr. A. Thevet New Found Worlde xii. f. 19v This Oyle hath a smell like to Marche violets.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 621 It turneth into a March Violet colour.
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. (ed. 3) (at cited word) Viola, March Violet, with a reddish colour'd flower.
a1864 J. Clare Later Poems (1984) I. 228 As purple as a fallen cloud March violets bloom & creep.
1885 E. R. B. Lytton Glenaveril II. 137 The bed Of the March violet is securely made In snowy February's coldest shade.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

marchn.3

Brit. /mɑːtʃ/, U.S. /mɑrtʃ/
Forms: Middle English mersh (in sense 1a), Middle English–1600s marche, Middle English– march; Scottish pre-1700 mairsche, pre-1700 mairtch, pre-1700 marche, pre-1700 marcht, pre-1700 marchte, pre-1700 marsch, pre-1700 martch, pre-1700 merche, pre-1700 mersch, pre-1700 mertch, pre-1700 mertche, pre-1700 meyrch, pre-1700 meyrche, pre-1700 1700s– mairch, pre-1700 1700s– march, pre-1700 1700s– merch; Irish English (northern) 1900s– march, 1900s– merch, 1900s– murch. Plural Middle English marcheis, Middle English marchez, Middle English marchys, Middle English–1500s marchies, Middle English–1500s marchis, Middle English– marches, 1500s marces, 1500s marchesse; Scottish pre-1700 mairches, pre-1700 mairchis, pre-1700 mairtches, pre-1700 mairtchis, pre-1700 marcheis, pre-1700 marchies, pre-1700 marchis, pre-1700 marchys, pre-1700 marsches, pre-1700 mercheis, pre-1700 merchis, pre-1700 merchise, pre-1700 merchys, pre-1700 merschis, pre-1700 mertches, pre-1700 meyrcheis, pre-1700 1700s– marches, pre-1700 1900s– merches.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French marche.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman marche, Old French marche border, border territory (c1100), ultimately < the Germanic base of Old English mearc mark n.1 Compare post-classical Latin marchia border (8th cent.), borderland (early 9th cent.; from 12th cent. in British sources) and forms discussed s.v. mark n.1Occasionally rendering terms in other languages from the same ultimate root: the March (of Wales) in sense 1a is an etymological rendering of post-classical Latin Mercia (see Mercian n. and adj.), and sense 7 is a translation of German Mark , Italian marca . A note in E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2, 1889) at Marsh implies a regional variant marsh : ‘I have come to the conclusion that our people do not use the word marsh to signify low land, which is at times flooded by water. The idea of a boundary seems always to be conveyed by it.’ The form mersh occurs once in the fifteenth century in sense 1a, perhaps after post-classical Latin Mercia. M.E.D (s.v. march(e n.2, sense 4a) records a compound merchestowe , which is perhaps better read as a transmission error for merthestowe place of happiness (with mirth n.), as implied by the translation given in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 239. (An -er- spelling would be problematic at this date.) The word is also attested in surnames in England from the thirteenth cent., though it is unclear whether these are to be interpreted as Middle English or Anglo-Norman.
I. A boundary, border, or frontier.
1.
a. spec. That part of England which borders on Wales (now usually in plural as the Marches); †Mercia (obsolete). Also: the part of England bordering on Scotland (now historical). Cf. Warden of the Marches at warden n.1 4b. Court of (the) Marches n. now historical a court dealing with minor civil actions in the Welsh Marches (see quot. 1848).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > [noun] > border country
threap-land1259
marchc1300
the Border1535
debatable1551
debatable land1587
threap-ground1825
c1300 St. Kenelm (Laud) 2 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 345 (MED) Seint Kenelm..was kyng in Engelonde of þe Marche of Walis.
c1300 St. Kenelm (Laud) 21 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 346 Þe kyng þat was of þe March..Muche del he hadde of Engelond þat on half al-bi weste.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 110 Þe kyng of þe march..hadde..Wircestressire..warewik..herefordssire..&al walis ȝvt þer to..Al þis was ȝwile icluped þe march of walis.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 61 Glowcetre..stondeþ vppon Seuarn in þe marche of Engelond and of Wales.
1398 in J. Slater Early Scots Texts (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Edinb.) (1952) No. 38 The Erle of the Marche, wardain of the est marche of Scotland.
1425 Rolls of Parl. IV. 276/2 Wardeyns of oure Est and West Marches.
1448 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1844) I. 350/2 It is..statut be law of merche..that na..persoun..sal intercomoun with ony Inglis man..without special licence of the wardane.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1876) VI. 7 (MED) That cite [sc. Dorchester] longede from that tyme to the bischoppes of the marches [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. of Mercia; L. Merciorum] unto the tymes of William conqueroure.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvi. 358 Of the marchis than had he The gouernal.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxxxvii. 165 The quene of Englande..was as thanne in the marchesse of the Northe, about Yorke.
1532–3 Act 24 Hen. VIII c. 12 §2 Any personne..resiaunte..within any the Kinges saide Dominions or Marches of the same.
1574 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1878) 1st Ser. II. 357 Williame Creychtoun..absentit himself fra the dayis of trew kepit at the west marche.
1583 J. Whitgift Let. in T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. (1655) ix. 157 Sure I am it is most usuall in the Court of the Marches (Arches rather) whereof I have the best experience.
1602 W. Warner Epitome Hist. Eng. in Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) 355 The Pictes..then occupying those parts which we now call the middle Marches, betwixt the English & Scots.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion vii. 101 The Herefordian floods..with their superfluous waste, Manure the batfull March.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ix. 183 This Oath..is usually tendered in Chancery, Court of Requests, Councel of Marches, and Councel in the North.
1709 J. Strype Ann. Reformation 21 Now the English forces were revoked from the marches of Scotland.
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. at Approvers In the Marches of Wales.
1820 J. Johnstone Poems 128 Ye were younger than me I could swear, When ye ran o'er the march wi' my father.
1848 J. J. S. Wharton Law Lexicon (at cited word) Court of Marches, an abolished tribunal in Wales, where pleas of debt or damages, not above the value of 50l., were tried and determined.
1875 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. II. xvi. 345 Hugh came into collision with..the rest of the rival lords of the marches.
1987 N. Tranter Flowers of Chivalry (BNC) 78 Ramsay..did not know this Ettrick Forest area so well as the main Middle and East Marches.
1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 163/2 Wimberry tarts and pies are sold in pubs around Shropshire and the Marches.
†b. British History. A court at which the wardens or commissioners from opposing sides of the English–Scottish marches dealt with complaints concerning infringements of boundary laws; a sitting of this court. Obsolete. day of march n. Obsolete a day on which a court of this kind was convened; = march-day n. at Compounds 2; cf. also day of truce at truce n. 1e.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > [noun] > courts held by Wardens of Marches
march1398
Warden-court1434
day of truce1486
1398 in J. Slater Early Scots Texts (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Edinb.) (1952) No. 38 That gif ony man of the ta reaume dois harme with in the tothir reaume..the wardanis of the marches gif he be within thair boundis..sal..bryng [him]..to knawlage of marche.
1405 in J. Slater Early Scots Texts (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Edinb.) (1952) No. 59 Redresis..the qwhilk my deputis has askyte at dayis of marche & nane has gotyne.
c1430 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1844) I. 84/2 Gif he denyis that dett he sall purge him therof at the merchis within the nixt xiiij nycht.
1574 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1878) 1st Ser. II. 357 All..frehalderis within the boundis of the wardanriis ar..debtbund to await upoun his hienes wardanis at the dayis of marcheis.
c1600 in Balfour's Practicks (1754) 607 The wardanis must keip thair dayis of marchis oft..swa that..everie moneth ane day of trewis be keipt at everie marche.
2.
a. gen. A boundary or frontier of a country, district, or region. Also: a tract of land on or constituting a border, or a disputed tract of land separating one country from another; = land-march n. at land n.1 Compounds 3. Now archaic and historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [noun] > border district(s)
end-landc1175
marcha1325
bounds1340
coast1377
marcherc1475
border1489
marchland1536
confines1548
front1589
limitrophe1589
commark1612
land-march1614
frontier1676
Border-sidea1700
borderland1813
border-countryc1885
rimland1942
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) xiii. 68 Ant ȝif þe roberie be imad in marche bituuene tuueine hundredes, þanne sullen boþe hundredes ansuerien of þe roberie.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 4352 (MED) Þai..senten after mani mo..For to loke..Al þe marches of Galoine & of Cornwaile þe pleines.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 2214 (MED) Lumbardie þei passed & comen into þe marches of þe kingdam of poyle.
c1450 (c1405) Mum & Sothsegger (BL Add. 41666) (1936) 1468 Þay leven þe labour þe londe to defende,To bisye þaym on þe bordures..And maynteyne þe marches fro myschief.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 913 Þan was a man in Messadone in þe marche duellid, A proued prince.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) i. 1202 Alpes..Departand Ytaly fra Frawns Be marchis, merys and distawns.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. l Henry Zutphan was put to death..by them of Dietmary, which is in the marces of Germany.
a1640 T. Risdon Chorogr. Surv. Devon (1811) (modernized text) §225 238 And 'twas 'twixt Britts and Saxons made the march.
1659 B. Harris in tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age (ed. 2) Contin. 302 Their enemies expertnesse of the Countrie troubling their marches.
1827 G. Darley Sylvia 149 The wild, war-blasted marches.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 3 He craved a fair permission to depart, And there defend his marches.
1870 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) I. iv. 156 Granted in fief..as a March or border territory.
1918 C. B. Fawcett Frontiers 78 The essential feature of the march was that its lord held the frontier by the resources of the province itself.
1958 P. Kemp No Colours or Crest ix. 179 (heading) The marches of Kossovo.
1960 C. Singer Short Hist. Sci. Ideas v. 159 Until after a.d. 1000 the Iberian peninsula was Moslem save for Leon, Navarre, and Aragon, small kingdoms of the French march.
1991 G. Webster Archaeologist at Large (BNC) 74 It meant the loss of the Colne peninsula and much else, which left them only the Essex marches and lands to the north.
†b. figurative. A boundary, bound, or limit. Also: a link, an intermediary. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] > specifically of something immaterial
markOE
marcha1387
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 183 Manis soule..is i-cleped orisoun, as it were þe next marche..bytwene bodily and goostly þinges.
1563 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1890) II. 54 Pas nocht ouer thai boundis, proptis or marcheis quhilkis thy fatheris hes put.
1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. 207 When..ye are in the utmost..border of time and shall put your foot within the march of eternity.
1786 A. Gib Καινα και Παλαια: Sacred Contempl. 269 A march ought to be fixed between his private and his public obedience.
1879 G. MacDonald Paul Faber III. xvi. 265 Over the march of two worlds, that of the imagination, and that of fact, her soul hovered fluttering.
†3. A natural frontier or limit of a stretch of land or sea; a coastal area; a shore, a bank. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. 1031 (MED) This king..wiste wel thei moten holde Here cours endlong his marche riht.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 6198 Þe boþome of þe ce þere he knew, Hou þe wynde roos and hou it blew, And þe marches of þe cee, j-wys, From helle al to Paradys.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 36/16 (MED) Þere is an arm of the see where þat men gon to oþere hauenes in þo marches.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) i. 1126 The wattyre of Ynde..On est half is the marche off it [sc. Africa].
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. 18/6 Quhen the river was fallin to the ald marchis.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 327 Tha held thame back fra the marches of the Jle als weil as thay culd.
4. Chiefly Scottish. The boundary of an estate; a boundary dividing one property from another; a tract of land between two properties.to redd (also rid, ride) the marches: see redd v.2 3, rid v. Phrases 4, ride v. 5c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] > land-boundary
thresholdeOE
randeOE
markeOE
mereOE
limiting1391
march1402
confrontc1430
bourne1523
limity1523
mereing1565
mark-mere1582
ring1598
land-mere1603
limit1655
field boundary1812
landimere1825
section-line1827
wad1869
1402 Scone Indenture [To] delyuir the landis..with sic marchis & meris as thai had of ald tyme.
1485 in A. L. Murray Lag Charters (1958) 54 A marche set wyth erde and stane quhill it cum to the burn.
1540 in 5th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1876) App. 609/1 The rycht meithis and merchis is and salbe..betuix the saidis landis.
c1650 J. Row & J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 196 No man shall ever let me see where any of the apostles sat as judges to other men, or to sett in marches, or to divyde men's lands.
1690 Inchaffray Reg. (1847) 140 To divide and appropriat the same..as shall be necessary to square marches amongst the saids adjacent Heritors.
1751 A. McDouall Inst. Laws Scotl. I. 282 The incloser may apply to the judge ordinary..to visit the ground, straiten and regulate the marches.
1818 J. Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck I. 132 It was..in the march between two lairds' lands, that he preached that day.
1839 T. De Quincey Sketches Life & Manners in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 569/2 Woodlands..intervening the different estates with natural sylvan marches.
1886 Act 49 & 50 Vict. c. 29 §21 Any questions relating to the boundaries or marches between crofters' holdings.
1933 J. Gray Lowrie 24 ‘Man, I never tocht it Leith wis sae grit.’ ‘But, Dad, this is Edinburgh we are going through.’ ‘Weel,’ says I, ‘whaar's da merch atween dem?’
1946 A. D. Gibb Students' Gloss. Sc. Legal Terms 54 March. Boundary; although common to both Scots and English this word is used with special frequency by Scots lawyers.
1986 Shooting Life Autumn 65/1 A good year on this side of the hill does not always mean a good season over the march on your neighbour's ground.
5. Chiefly Scottish. A boundary marker; an object set to indicate a boundary line. Cf. march-balk n. at Compounds 1b; see also march stone n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] > land-boundary > boundary mark
markingOE
boundc1275
marka1325
merea1387
meithc1430
limit1439
doolc1440
prop1450
march1495
landmark1535
mere boundc1600
mere-mark1611
border-mark1613
bound-mark1623
bounder-mark1666
boundary-mark1878
1495 in Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1839) I. 394/2 Þe wrangwis..vptaking of þer merchis & stannis & making of wrang marchis at his avne hand.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. xiv. 30 Ane ald crag stane..Quhilk..was liggand neyr, A marche set in that grund..Of twa feildis.
1577 R. Holinshed Hist. Scotl. 255/2 in Chron. I In the middest of Stanemoore there shall be a Crosse set vp, with the king of Englandes Image on the one side, and the king of Scotlands on the other, to signifie that the one is marche to England, and the other to Scotland.
1616 in J. G. Dalyell Darker Superstitions Scotl. (1834) 179 [She refused to speak before passing] the boundis of hir ground and thair sat down, plaiting her feit betwix the merchis.
1693 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. (ed. 2) ii. 277 The division of the Tenements proceeds by Aikers..wherein there ought to be Marches set.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 180/1 Murch, a boundary dike between two farms.
II. A region bounded by borders.
†6. [Compare classical Latin fines.] A country, region, province; land, territory. Obsolete.In quot. c1425 referring to the territory of an animal.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > [noun]
landc725
kithc888
thedec888
earthOE
groundOE
foldOE
countryc1300
marchc1330
nationc1330
wonec1330
provincea1382
soila1400
strandc1400
terragec1440
room1468
limita1513
limitationa1527
seat1535
terrene1863
negara1955
negeri1958
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 6322 (MED) Forþ þou go..Riȝt to Amis..Þat woneþ in þe marche of Almeyne.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 3015 He haþ wonne..Þeo marchis of Fraunce, and of Spayne, And Coloyne, and ek Almayne.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 438 And þorw myracles..al þat marche he [sc. Austyn] torned To crystendom.
c1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 12 (MED) The hare abideþ comonly in oo contre..no strange hare shal þei neuere suffre come dwelle in hure marchesse, þot þei be of here nature.
1451 Grant of Arms in S. Young Ann. Barber-surgeons London (1890) 432 (MED) Y Clarensew Kyng of Armes of the South Marche of Englond..have devysed a Conysaunce in fourme of Armes.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 22 Sir Ulphuns and sir Brascias..shulde have such chere as myght be made for them in thys marchis.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) vi. 138 Blessed be the hour that ye were borne, and cam in to thyse marches.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 172 (MED) The sasnes..haue be-seged the Castell of Vandesberes in the marche of Cornewaile.
c1600 (c1350) Alisaunder (Greaves) (1929) 14 Amyntas þe mightie..Maister of Macedoine, þe marches he aught.
7. Any of various territories in continental Europe with etymologically related names in German, Italian, etc., as March of Brandenburg (cf. mark n.1 2), March of Ancona, etc. Now archaic and historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > territorial jurisdiction or areas subject to > jurisdiction or territory of specific rulers or nobles > [noun] > of others
thanage14..
thanedomc1425
satrapy1569
chiefery1587
caliphate1614
sultany1639
sagamoreship1670
rajaship1698
ladyship1709
satrapate1717
march1726
sachemdom1764
Nizamat1765
khanate1799
jarldom1820
sultanate1822
knightship1845
sheikhdom1845
sachemship1876
sheikh-ship1878
shahdom1884
chiefship1894
thakurate1901
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 30/2 In the March of Ancona,..they find a white Stone, which [etc.].
1759 Ann. Reg. 1758 20 Richlieu..made his way into..the old marche of Brandenburg.
1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands II. 275 Sixtus the Fifth, the son of a peasant in the March of Ancona.
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 9/2 Ancona..forms part of the old district of the Marches, which passed from the dominion of the Pope to that of Victor Emmanuel in 1860. The Marches comprise the March of Ancona on the north and the March of Fermo on the south.
1937 Speculum 12 431 Sigismondo Malatesta had already driven him [sc. Sforza] from most of the March of Ancona.
1989 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 61 731 Some of Kiefer's landscapes are clearly designed to provide such an experience, most notably those that depict Germany's East in the fields of the March of Brandenburg.

Compounds

C1.
a. (In senses 1a, 2a.)
† march captain n. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > governor of province, dependency, or colony > local or district governor > [noun] > governor of border regions
marchionc1390
march captain1537
Border-warden1820
1537 in State Papers Henry VIII (1834) II. 452 Every of His Gracis subjectis, having landes in like places of daungier, bee orderid to departe therwith to marche capitayns.
1538 in State Papers Henry VIII (1834) III. 37 Marches capitaynes.
† march cause n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1537 in State Papers Henry VIII (1834) II. 489 That ther were, in every marche, wardens..whiche shulde have auctorytye..to here and redresse all robberyes, marche causeis [etc.].
† march garrison n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1537 in State Papers Henry VIII (1834) II. 429 Distrusting to commytt the custodie of dyvers of the marche garrisons to any of this landes birthe.
march shire n.
ΚΠ
1917 Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. 483 The Warden..had simply taken over certain duties hitherto discharged by the sheriff in the March shires.
b. (In sense 4.)
ˈmarch-balk n. now rare
ΚΠ
1595 in J. M. Thomson Registrum Magni Sigilli Scotorum (1890) VI. 110/1 Fra stane to stane quhill it cum to ane stane at the heid of the mertche bauk.
1683 in J. Lauder Decisions Lords of Council (1759) I. 224 In regard the witness had deponed upon her tilling and riveing out the march-balk.
1913 J. Black Gloamin' Glints 119 Ye were a gran' herd at first, strappin' back an' forrit on the mairch baulk.
march-dike n.
ΚΠ
1472 Extracts Rec. in W. Chambers Charters Burgh Peebles (1872) 169 Fra the march dik est.
1588 Inventory Munim. Earl of Crawford II. 191 [He] is begane to big ane merch dyk betuix Kilhillis boundis and my headrume.
1794 R. Heron Gen. View Hebudæ 90 Let the landlords take upon themselves the expence of building every where sufficient march-dykes.
1897 P. H. Hunter John Armiger's Revenge 29 Then it's understood aboot..raisin' that march-dyke anither foot.
march-ditch n.
ΚΠ
1830 W. Carleton Traits & Stories Irish Peasantry I. 222 This river..was the march-ditch, or merin between our farms.
1899 Cent. Mag. Oct. 955 Afther ye've got yerself over the march-ditch first.
march-fence n.
ΚΠ
1811 Scots Mag. Oct. 793 To pay the expence of herding..incurred by his delaying to build his portions of the march fence.
1882 G. Watson Bell's Dict. Law Scotl. (rev.ed.) 619/2 A tenant..is bound..to maintain march-fences erected by the landlord during the lease.
1989 Scots Mag. June 282 We dropped to the river..before climbing up to the high march fence.
† march-line n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1886 G. MacDonald What's Mine's Mine III. ix. 158 If he did not everywhere know where the march-line fell, at least he knew perfectly where it ought to fall.
C2.
march-day n. [compare post-classical Latin dies marchie day's session of court (from 1291 in British sources)] British History = day of march n. at sense 1b.
ΚΠ
1900 A. Lang Hist. Scotl. I. x. 293 In ruling the Borders, making raids and holding March-days.
1917 Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. 483 It was not..till 1373 that the Wardens were allowed to arrange with the Scottish Wardens for a ‘March-day’ for the redress of wrongs.
† march-gat n. [perhaps < march n.3 + gate n.2] Obsolete rare (perhaps) a road or way across or at a frontier.
ΚΠ
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 5076 (MED) He leuys all þe march-gats..And nymmes a-nothire on þe north.
march law n. British History a set of laws governing the relations between people on opposite sides of a boundary.
ΚΠ
1612 J. Davies Discouerie Causes Ireland 123 That no Englishman be ruled in the definition of their debates, by the March-Law, or the Brehon Law.
1917 Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. 480 By March Law Nicholas de Gules, who had lands in both countries, should not have been impleaded..except at the March.
† march parts n. Obsolete rare the border region between England and Scotland.
ΚΠ
c1560 Hunting Cheviot in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1889) III. vi. 310 Ther was neuer a tym on the Marche partes [etc.].
† march-party n. [probably < march n.3 + 2a] Obsolete rare = march parts n.
ΚΠ
c1560 Hunting Cheviot in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1889) III. vi. 310 For towe such captayns as slayne wear thear on the March parti shall neuer be non.
† march treason n. Obsolete (archaic in later use) the offence of conspiring with others on the opposite side of the English–Scottish border against march law.
ΚΠ
1551 R. Bowes in Reprints Rare Tracts (1847) IV. ii. 36 The forme of an indictment for m [ar] che treason is as foloweth..A.B...stale and drove awaye..beasts, horse, nowte or shepe.
a1600 in W. Nicolson Leges Marchiarum (1705) 185 Martch-Treasone; that is to say, where any Inglyshe man trystes or entercommoneth, or bryngeth in any Scottes man to come into this realme, in time of peace or warr, to do any slaughter, to burne, robb, steale, or to do any other offence within the realme.
a1639 R. Carey Mem. (1759) 86 I called a jury next morning, and hee was found guilty of March-Treason.
1805 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel iv. xxi. 112 We claim from thee William of Deloraine, That he may suffer march-treason pain.
march-ward n. [after Old English mearc-weard] historical and pseudo-archaic a person appointed to guard or administer the marches.
ΚΠ
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. March-ward.
a1973 J. R. R. Tolkien Silmarillion (1977) xxi. 217 Thingol..sent Mablung after her, with many hardy march-wards, to find her and guard her.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† marchn.4

Forms: late Middle English–1500s marche.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French marche.
Etymology: < Middle French marche footprint of an animal (1376 in this sense) < Middle French marcher march v.2 Compare mark n.1 21.
Obsolete. rare.
The spoor of an otter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Lutra (otter) > track or trace of
marchc1425
otter-path1771
slide1842
otter-track1854
otter-mark1856
c1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 40 Men clepen þat steppes or þe marches of þe Otere, as men clepe þe trace of þe hert.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxxix. 237 The Footing or the foote..Of an Otter..is to be called the Markes, or the Marches.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

marchn.5

Brit. /mɑːtʃ/, U.S. /mɑrtʃ/
Forms: 1500s marche, 1500s–1600s martch, 1500s– march; Scottish pre-1700 marche, pre-1700 1700s– mairch, pre-1700 1700s– march, pre-1700 1700s– merch.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: march v.2
Etymology: < march v.2French marche (noun) < marcher (see march v.2) is attested in several corresponding senses (1611 in sense 2a, 1718 in senses 3 and 6, and a1630 in sense 7), in each case later than the earliest English evidence. For direct loans from the French noun in other senses, see march n.4 and march n.6
†I. An intention, tendency of thought.
1. An intention; the tendency or drift of thought. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1544 Ld. Maxwell Let. Mar. in W. Fraser Bk. Carlaverock (1873) II. 29 I pray ȝou that I may hayff some of the Kyngis mynd toward me to know heyes marche and quhat heys heyneyes will is.
II. Senses relating to the action of marching.
2.
a. The action or an act of marching; the regular forward movement together and in time of a body of troops; the similar orderly forward movement of a company, an exploring party, a procession, etc. Also (with on): a hostile military approach towards a specific place. Cf. forced march n. at forced adj. 3a. See also march v.2 1a.In quot. 1575 apparently: a signal to march sounded on a drum (cf. sound v.1 9a).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > manoeuvre > [noun] > march
march1575
countermarch1598
tab1982
society > armed hostility > military operations > manoeuvre > [noun] > march > marching
march1575
marching1720
yomping1982
1575 G. Gascoigne Fruites of Warre L'enuoié, in Posies sig. Kviii If drummes once sounde a lustie martch in deede, Then farewell bookes, for he will trudge with speede.
1586 R. Lane in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1889) XIII. 305 In the ende of my march vpon some conuenient plot would I haue raised another sconse according to the former, where I would haue left fiftene or twentie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iv. iii. 8 Two mightier Troopes..Which ioyn'd with him, and made their march for Burdeaux. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 778 For whom all this haste Of midnight march . View more context for this quotation
1672 Sir W. Talbot (title) The Discoveries of John Lederer, in three several Marches from Virginia to the West of Carolina.
1781 T. Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 12 They [sc. pioneers] are to..make preparations for the march of the army.
1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville I. 159 A march of three or four days..brought Captain Bonneville to..Jackson's Hole.
1851 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. Index 751 Aspre, general d', notices of..—his march on Verona, 442.
1852 G. Grote Hist. Greece IX. ii. lxx. 141 Three days of additional march brought them to the Euphrates.
1869 Notes & Queries 20 Feb. 171/2 The Spartan king..contemplated a march on Susa at the head of the united forces of the Greek Confederacy to dictate terms to the Great King at his own capital.
1915 J. Turner Let. July in C. Warren Somewhere in France (2019) 16 A week of..long marches and much manoeuvring and attacks by night.
1930 E. Ferber Cimarron 40 The Cherokees..were torn from the land..given them..to be sent far away on a march which..was marked by bleaching bones from Georgia to Oklahoma.
1981 A. Judd Breed of Heroes i. iii. 41 They made the approach march to the customs post across several miles of fields.
b. column of march n. = column of route at route n.1 Phrases 1. line of march n. direction or route of marching; (in extended use) course of travelling, way. in march, (up)on the march and variants: marching; (in extended use) advancing, progressing (cf. sense 2).
ΚΠ
1639 Articles Mil. Discipl. 11 Every man is to keep his own rank and file upon the march.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 413 When he entic'd Israel in Sittim on their march from Nile. View more context for this quotation
1707 London Gaz. No. 4353/1 The Duke of Savoy's Army are in a full March for this Place.
1738 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. (ed. 2) I. 241 They attacked the Carthaginians who were upon their march.
1780 A. Hamilton Let. 25 June in Papers (1961) II. 345 All the army is in march toward you.
1781 T. Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 12 The routes must be so formed, that no column cross another on the march.
1819 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 5 737 Lying in a diagonal direction across the line of march.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) II. 296 The Persian army was in full march for Athens.
1846 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 II. vi. 236 Detachments of the 65th regiment,..on their march to join the 4th division.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) III. 414 Whether in actual battle or on a march.
1876 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Column of March, a formation assumed by troops on the line of march.
1902 ‘Linesman’ Words by Eyewitness 126 A Boer searchlight..which roved like an angry eye from end to end of our line of march.
1914 Infantry Training 73 When a column is on the march, platoons may, if desired, advance in fours in succession.
1931 Skipper 25 Apr. 112 A detachment of the Camel Corps on the march outside Cairo.
1990 Sciences Mar. 15 Local accounts,..aerial photographs and voluminous questionnaires all appear to suggest that deserts are on the march.
c. In extended use: such an action as undertaken by a group of animals. Also, with reference to a person: a long, difficult, or tiring walk.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > going on foot > [noun] > walking laboriously or aimlessly > an act of
march1692
tramp1787
trudge1835
trampoose1840
traipse1862
stram1869
ploda1879
foot-slog1900
1692 J. Ray Wisdom of God (ed. 2) ii. 124 The swiftness and continuance of the march, for which this Animal [sc. the camel] is almost indefatigable.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 125 The Motions of their hasty Flight attend; And know to Floods, or Woods, their airy march they [sc. bees] bend. View more context for this quotation
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 238 We came to the Roots of the Mountain, and had a very troublesome March to gain the Top of it.
1832 E. Bulwer-Lytton Eugene Aram I. i. ii. 27 I have had a long march of it.
1888 Harper's Mag. July 198/2 I knew they [sc. elephants] would be on the march again before daylight.
1993 D. Beason & K. J. Anderson Assemblers of Infinity xxi. 195 You have seen accounts of army ants on the march in South American rain forests.
d. With following adverb, forming noun compounds corresponding to the equivalent verbal phrase (see march v.2 1a), as march-out, etc. See also march past n.
ΚΠ
1869 A. W. Ward tr. E. Curtius Hist. Greece II. iii. i. 273 Themistocles insisted upon a second march-out against the enemy.
1895 ‘M. Twain’ in Harper's Mag. July 239 He made a fine and picturesque thing of the march-out from the Audience.
1929 Evening News 18 Nov. 5/3 Church March-out. Sequel to Dismissal of the Choir. More than 100 people walked out of St. Michael's Church..during afternoon service.
1985 Times 4 Mar. 1/3 The Welsh miners..insisted that there should be an immediate march back, with negotiations on an amnesty thereafter.
e. A procession organized as a protest, or other demonstration of public opinion, to support a cause, or to draw attention to a particular problem, etc. Also with on. march on Rome n. Italian History the march of Fascists from Naples to Rome in 1922 which resulted in Mussolini's appointment as Prime Minister.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > rebelliousness > militancy > [noun] > demonstration
protesting1582
demonstration1839
manifestation1875
demo1904
march1908
protest march1914
zap1972
society > authority > lack of subjection > rebelliousness > militancy > [noun] > demonstration > types of demonstration or protest
counterprotest1595
student demonstration1856
lie-in1867
rent strike1881
hunger strike1889
march1908
protest march1914
occupation1920
lie-down1936
sit-down1936
sit-in1936
freedom march1947
vigil1956
freedom walk1957
swim-in1960
freedom ride1961
sitting in1961
sleep-out1961
fish-in1964
live-in1964
stall-in1964
sleep-in1965
Long March1967
love-in1967
talk-in1967
write-in1967
die-in1970
dirty protest1979
blanket protest1982
1908 Westm. Gaz. 16 July 10/3 A statement of the purpose of the ‘Hunger March’.
1922 N.Y. Times 30 Oct. 2/4 The character of the Fascistic march on Rome is exemplified by various minor happenings of a friendly nature.
1931 Ann. Reg. 1930 184 The revival of the Heimwehr policy of holding provocative marches.
1932 New Republic 21 Sept. 145/1 In the Middle West..large portions of the people would welcome a revolutionary march on Washington.
1945 C. Mann River 136 Clarkey is not in the March this year.
1952 Ann. Reg. 1951 105 In May the Commando arranged a symbolic ‘march’ to Capetown to present a formal petition to Parliament.
1963 U.S. News & World Rep. 2 Sept. 29/1 In the long history of marches on Washington, there's never been anything quite like the latest civil-rights demonstration.
1973 Black World Nov. 42/2 Perhaps the most arresting result of the thousands of ‘sit-ins’ and ‘marches’ by Afro-Americans in the early Sixties..has been the obligation and opportunity of the entire world to re-evaluate the contributions of the Black American to world society.
1988 L. Martz & G. Carroll Ministry of Greed x. 198 There was no plan of action..no angels with trumpets appeared to lead the mob in a march on the studio.
f. American Football. An advance (usually rapid) made by the team playing offence.
ΚΠ
1951 T. Cohane Yale Football Story xiv. 87 The Minnesota shift was not adding up to a scoring march, but it was gaining.
1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. c9/1 Cliff Stoudt directed a fourth-quarter march to set up Matt Bahr's third field goal of the game.
1998 San Diego Union-Tribune (Electronic ed.) 18 Jan. c12 He led the North on its only scoring drive, a 65-yard march capped by a pretty 9-yard pass to Stephen F. Austin's Mikhael Ricks on a slant pattern.
†3. Chess, etc. The manner in which a piece is permitted to move or advance. In quot. 1584 figurative: a move. Cf. marching n.2 2. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > move
moving1474
marching1562
march1584
remove1645
removal1662
1584 R. Greene Gwydonius f. 15 Houering betweene feare and hope, he began the assault with this march. Madame (quoth hee) for that [etc.].
1618 J. Barbier Saul's Famous Game Chesse-play (new ed.) iv. sig. B6 What is the draught or marche of each peece.
1850 H. G. Bohn et al. Hand-bk. Games 503 (Polish Draughts) The march of the Pawn..is the same as in the English game.
4.
a. Military. A period of continuous marching; the distance covered by troops in a specified period of time, usually one day. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > evolution > [noun] > marching
march1597
marching1720
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. ii. 13 From Tamworth thether, is but one dayes march . View more context for this quotation
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico vii. 77 He by long Marches passing the Rhine came to Delph in Holland.
1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe i. i By quick and painful Marches hither came.
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 181 It gave the King a full Day's March of him.
1750 T. Carte Gen. Hist. Eng. II. 391 After a long day's march through untracked ways.
1813 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) X. 431 The army are..within two or three marches of the Ebro.
1845 H. W. Longfellow Carillon in Wks. (1886–91) 188 Still I heard those magic numbers, As they loud proclaimed the flight And stolen marches of the night.
1887 H. M. Stanley Darkest Afr. (1890) I. 251 A march of nine and a half miles..took us to a..camp.
1895 United Service Mag. July 430 The precautions for the night march to prevent a light from being seen.
1929 R. Kipling Limits & Renewals (1932) 99 What was your best day's march on the Via Sebaste?
1973 J. G. Farrell Siege of Krishnapur xxvi. 285 By now a relieving force may be no more than a day's march away.
b. to get (also †gain) a march (up)on: to get ahead of to the extent of a march. Now only in extended use.to steal a march: see steal v.1 5e.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > get ahead of
to get of ——1548
to get (also have) the start of1569
to get (also gain) a march (up)on1707
to cut out1738
1707 London Gaz. No. 4353/3 His Royal Highness hath gain'd a March upon Monsieur de Guebriant.
1745 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 59 The young Pretender..has got a march on General Cope.
1772–4 R. Warner Cheat iv. iv. 374 You waylay me, When we should gain a march upon the enemy.
1876 Appletons' Jrnl. 19 Feb. 235/3 A heavy wagon [was]..furnished underneath with a capacious sort of swinging tray well loaded, as if to gain a march upon the unsuspecting horses.
1985 Marketing Mag. (N.Z.) July 60/2 We've got such a march on our opposition, we don't want any publicity.
1995 Face Sept. 50/1 (caption) You got to hand it to them—every time you think you've got the march on the Japanese denim trainspotters, they shift shop to a different station.
5. Canadian. A journey of any kind, esp. one made by canoe or dog-sledge. Also: a stage of such a journey. Cf. mush n.5
ΚΠ
1820 D. Haskel Harmon's Jrnl. Voy. & Trav. N. Amer. 77 Sent five men with a canoe, two days march up the river.
1820 G. Simpson Jrnl. Occurr. in Athabasca Dept. (1938) 6 Brunelle's Canoe..was unable to keep company with Magnions Brigade, in consequence of his wife being taken in labour on the march two days ago.
1905 in Brit. Columbia Hist. Q. (1954) 18 214 There were two feet of snow on the ground during the first part of our trip of 270 miles, and after a long week of almost incessant travel, or ‘march’ as the word was, we reached our destination.
1931 G. L. Nute Voyageur 61 Once again the long marches were resumed as the little hamlets..faded from sight.
III. Senses relating to the regular rhythm of marching.
6. Music. A tune or composition of marked rhythm, esp. one characterized by rhythmical drumbeats, designed to accompany the marching of troops, etc.; any composition of similar character and form, usually in common time, and often with a subsidiary intermediate section or trio. Frequently modified by a preceding adjective denoting the origin or type of march, or the name of the particular tune (for common collocations see the first element).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > [noun] > march
march1588
dead march1603
funeral march1633
death march1762
quickstepc1790
quick march1791
wedding-march1850
1588 A. Munday Banqvet of Daintie Conceits sig. Ci This Dittie may be sung to a very gallant note, called the Earle of Oxenfords March.
a1591 W. Byrd Ladye Nevells Bk. in A. Brown Keyboard Mus. W. Byrd (1976) II. 207/1 The marche before: the battell: the march before the battell.
a1591 W. Byrd Ladye Nevells Bk. in A. Brown Keyboard Mus. W. Byrd (1976) II. 207/2 The marche: of: foote:men... The marche: of: horsmen.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes A kind of march sounded by trumpetters in a morning to their generall and captaine.
1604 T. Dekker Magnificent Entertainm. sig. E2 Nine Trumpets, and a Kettle Drum, did very sprightly & actiuely sound the Danish march.
1706 J. Addison Rosamond i. iv 'Tis Henry's March! the tune I know.
1719 Dancing-master II. 29 Duke of Marlborough's March.
1719 Dancing-master II. 221 The Foot~guards march: Or, Boatswain William's Delight.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 647 He hates the field, in which no fife or drum Attends him, drives his cattle to a march [etc.].
1822 Ld. Byron Werner iv. i. 272 I'll play you King Gustavus' march.
1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 244/1 Each regiment in the British service has its special march for marching past.
1928 H.M.V. Catal. 163 British Cavalry Quick March... Grand March—Tannhäuser.
1975 I. McEwan First Love, Last Rites (1976) 57 A march in exultant two-time.
1990 A. Beevor Inside Brit. Army xxiv. 302 The page listing the regiment's title, motto,..and regimental march has been removed.
7. Military. A beating of a drum or drums in a particular rhythm as an accompaniment to the marching of troops, frequently to set a pace. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > beating drum > [noun] > beating to accompany march
march1617
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 267 A man can hardly distinguish betweene the beating of the drums of the Sweitzers, and Germans, saue that the former march is more graue and slow.
1650 R. Elton Compl. Body Art Mil. (1668) iii. xxiii The several beats of the Drum; as..a Call;..a March;..a Battle or Charge;..a Retreat.
1727–41 E. Chambers Cycl. at Drum There are divers beats of the Drum: as the march, double march, assembly, charge [etc.].
1781 T. Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 12 The general beats at 2; the assemblé at 3; and the march in 20 minutes after.
1781 T. Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 12 The drummers are to beat a march, and fifers play at the head of the line.
1819 W. Scott Legend of Montrose iii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. III. 195 They havena sae mickle as a German whistle, or a drum, to beat a march, an alarm..or any other point of war.
1995 M. Pfeil Drumming in Eng. Civil Wars 13 Drummers changed the exact beats of the march to their liking.
†8. In extended use: a regular, uniform movement in verse. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > rhythm > [noun] > rhythmic quality
numerosityc1570
march1656
numerousness1685
1656 A. Cowley Davideis i. 13 in Poems Till all the parts and words their places take, And with just marches verse and musick make.
1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. i. 16 But Dryden taught to join The varying verse, the full resounding line, The long majestic march, and energy divine.
9. The regular and uniform step of a body of troops, etc.; the rhythmic sound produced by this. Sometimes with premodifying adjective, as double march, etc. Also figurative. See also quick march n. 1, slow march n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > [noun] > manner of walking > uniform and regular
marching1558
march1661
society > armed hostility > military operations > evolution > [noun] > marching > step
march1661
step1798
society > armed hostility > military operations > evolution > [noun] > marching > rate of marching > specific
quick march1606
double march1661
slow time1763
ordinary time1792
quick time1802
double time1833
double1860
walk-march1874
1661 Princess Cloria iv. 402 The quick march of the Kings Souldiers, made us see our own folly.
1752 D. Hume Polit. Disc. ii. 25 That quick march of the spirits..does in the end exhaust the mind.
1783 J. Hoole tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso II. xvi. 566 So loud their march, the Scots suspended hear, They leave their ranks and stain their fame with fear.
1820 P. B. Shelley Ode to Naples 127 Hear ye the march as of the Earth-born Forms Arrayed against the everliving Gods?
1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. i. 21 The Double March..is 150 steps in the minute, each of 36 inches, making 450 feet in a minute.
1859 Field Exercise Infantry (rev. ed.) iii. 95 The double march is not applied to the movements of large bodies of troops for a longer distance than is required in a charge.
1889 Infantry Drill 25 The length of which [plummet-string]..must be as follows for the different degrees of march.
1889 Infantry Drill 29 The Slow March.
1994 Esprit de Corps (Ottawa) Aug. 5/2 The Second Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment..paraded..at the slow march, the last post was played.
IV. Senses relating to the general notion of moving forwards or making progress. (In extended uses frequently in the march of ——.)
10. Forward movement, succession, advance; course or direction of advance. (Sometimes with allusion to sense 6.)
†a. Of the course of life of a person or group of people. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > course or span of life
life-dayOE
year-daysOE
timeOE
dayOE
lifeOE
life's timeOE
livelihoodOE
yearOE
lifetimea1300
life-whilea1300
for (also to) term of (a person's) lifea1325
coursec1384
livingc1390
voyage1390
agea1398
life's dayc1425
thread1447
racea1450
living daysc1450
natural life1461
lifeness1534
twist1568
leasec1595
span1599
clew1615
marcha1625
peregrination1653
clue1684
stamen1701
life term1739
innings1772
lifelong1814
pass-through1876
inning1885
natural1891
life cycle1915
puff1967
a1625 J. Fletcher Humorous Lieut. iii. v, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Rrr3v/1 Our lives are but our martches to our graves.
1804 T. Campbell Soldier's Dream iv I flew to the pleasant fields travers'd so oft In life's morning march, when my bosom was young.
1816 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto III xcviii. 54 We may resume The march of our existence.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. III. 77 This apparent overstep..in the march of insanity beyond that of the population of the country.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 6 Voltaire's march was prepared for him before he was born.
b. Of a physical object or phenomenon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > forward movement > [noun]
forthgangc900
racea1400
processa1450
remuea1450
profectiona1538
procession1585
advance1593
nod1597
progressa1599
riddance1598
run1626
advancement1637
incession1651
progression1651–3
march1683
progrediency1701
waygate1825
1683 A. Snape Anat. Horse i. xxviii. 63 [The veins] continue their march through the Allantoides to the Chorion... Their [sc. arteries] march and insertions are the same with those of the Vein.
1794 W. Cowper Needless Alarm 29 The sun, accomplishing his early march.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VI. 108 Mediastinal cancer..makes its onward march involving whatever may come in its path.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 260 Then followed a march of a sensation of pins and needles down the opposite side of the body.
1931 P. S. Buck Good Earth viii. 73 And the sky was empty and barren, and the stately sun rose each morning and made its march and set solitary each night.
1992 Sci. Amer. Aug. 19/3 The age pattern of the Hawaiian islands attests to the slow march of the seafloor over a..‘hot spot’.
c. Of time, events, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > forward movement > [noun] > onward course
discourse1541
marcha1797
a1797 H. Walpole Mem. George III (1845) I. i. 3 The regular march of history.
1828 C. Lamb Char. Late Elia in Elia 2nd Ser. 228 He did not conform to the march of time.
1833 Fraser's Mag. 8 343 The common person [is] sadly puzzled to understand the ordonnance and march of the plot.
1858 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilization Eng. (1871) II. viii. 554 Men will not bide their time, but will insist on precipitating the march of affairs.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) IV. xviii. 108 These Northumbrian disturbances had little bearing on the general march of events.
1920 E. Pound Hugh Selwyn Mauberley 9 Unaffected by ‘the march of events’.
1956 B. Webb Diary 3 May (1956) II. 90 In the country I have not been able to watch the march of events.
1972 Guardian 22 Jan. 15/3 The exchange of signatures is a non-event, as the great march of time goes.
11.
a. Steady, continuous, or inexorable progression towards some state or goal; esp. ongoing or sustained progress or advancement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > progress, advance, or further continuance > [noun] > proceeding or going on to something
procedure1663
march1794
1794 E. Burke in W. Burke & E. Burke tr. J. P. Brissot To his Constituents Pref. p. xxiv Crimes had pioneered and made smooth the way for the march of the virtues.
1824 T. Jefferson Let. 6 Sept. in Writings (1984) 1497 I have observed this march of civilization advancing from the sea coast, passing over us like a cloud of light, increasing our knowledge and improving our condition.
1854 Fraser's Mag. 50 343 The mental march from concrete or real notions to discrete or abstract truths.
1892 R. Kipling in Times 29 Nov. 8/2 The tingling self-consciousness of a new people makes them take a sort of perverted pride in the futile racket that sends up the death-rate—a child's delight in the blase and dust of the March of Progress.
1938 P. G. Wodehouse Summer Moonshine x. 113 You can buy gum anywheres in England now, they tell me... Yessir. March of Civilization.
1955 A. West Heritage ii. 83 It had been revealed to me that I was a problem for her to deal with in the course of her march toward some goal.
1985 Science 26 Apr. 401/2 I have bowed to the onward march of modern science and continue to use airplanes.
1992 Farmers Guardian 7 Aug. (Classified) 13/3 The British Charollais is leading the march into profitability for UK..lamb producers.
b. The advancement of knowledge, the dissemination or spread of information or education. Frequently in march of intellect and march of mind (also attributive).Very common (esp. in ironical allusion) in the period following the foundation of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in 1827.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun]
growingc1380
profitingc1384
increasec1385
bettering?c1425
progress1457
advancementc1475
service1533
progression1586
increment1609
upgrowinga1618
flowering1629
rise1676
development1756
evolution1796
march1818
headway1832
upgrowth1844
upbuilding1876
1775 E. Burke Speech Resol. for Concil. Colonies 38 The march of the human mind is slow.]
1818 J. Keats Let. 3 May (1931) I. 157 It proves there is really a grand march of intellect.
1821 Lady Morgan Italy I. viii. 170 Impediments are now thrown in the march of mind... To retrograde, not to advance, is the order of the times.
1827 Gentleman's Mag. 97 ii. p. ii What is ‘the march of intellect’—The mighty march of mind?
1831 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 30 345 The march-of-mind mechanics, the intellectualized artificers.
1844 S. R. Maitland Dark Ages 185 He was quite a march-of-intellect man.
1852 Ld. Tennyson Ode Wellington 167 And drill the raw world for the march of mind, Till crowds at length be sane and crowns be just.
1883 J. H. Newman Let. 17 Apr. (1979) III. 297 Can there be a greater proof that I am become a liberal, a march-of-mind man, a man of the world?
1909 G. B. Shaw Statem. Evid. before Joint-Comm. Stage Plays 10 Persecutions..are trifles compared to the mischief done by censorships in delaying the general march of enlightenment.
1959 Spectator 11 Sept. 339/3 If we seek the pre-logical and oppose the march of intellect, we are the enemies of science..and the worshippers of myth.
V. Other uses.
12. Euchre. [Perhaps connected with Italian marcio ‘a lurch or maiden set at any game’ (Florio, 1598), a double loss in any game (lit. ‘rotten’) < classical Latin marcidus marcid adj.] The making of all five tricks by the bidding side.
ΚΠ
1845 Hoyle's Games 258 In case the party who makes the trump secures three tricks, it counts one point to the game; if all five tricks, it is called a ‘march’, and counts two points.
1886 Euchre: How to Play It 108 March, where all the tricks are made by one side.
1944 A. H. Morehead Mod. Hoyle 182 If he takes all five tricks, he scores a march, worth 2 points.
1990 D. Parlett Oxf. Guide Card Games xv. 192 The bidding side scores..2 for the march if played in partnership, or 4 for the march if played alone.

Compounds

C1. General attributive uses, as (in sense 6) march-movement, march-rhythm, march-tempo, march-time, march-tune.
ΚΠ
1864 R. Browning Dîs Aliter Visum viii Schumann's our music-maker now; Has his march-movement youth and mouth?
1920 D. H. Lawrence Touch & Go i. ii. 30 They begin to dance to a quick little march-rhythm.
1947 A. Einstein Music Romantic Era xvii. 309 His overtures on Spanish march-tunes.
1948 F. Borrows Theory & Technique Lat.-Amer. Dancing iv. 156 Paso Doble music is in march time.
1961 J. Blades in A. C. Baines Musical Instruments through Ages xiv. 337 At a steady march tempo, with eight strokes on the drum in each bar.
C2.
march fracture n. [after German Marschfraktur (probably coined by F. Eyles 1915, in Münchener Med. Wochenschr. 62 1703)] Medicine a stress fracture of a metatarsal bone, usually caused by a prolonged period of walking, marching, etc.
ΚΠ
1932 Surg., Gynecol. & Obstetr. 54 581/1 The swelling is apt to be considered a neoplasm unless the observer is familiar with the picture of a marching fracture.]
1938 Surg., Gynecol. & Obstetr. 67 235/2 Zeitlin and Odessky..concluded that march fracture occurred as a result of overloading a foot already weakened functionally and anatomically.
1974 A. Henry in R. M. Kirk et al. Surgery xv. 336 (heading) Stress fracture of a metatarsal neck (March fracture).
1988 Today's Runner June 46/3 The March fracture..is an over-use injury, relieved by rest and wearing shoes with more cushioning.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

marchn.6

Brit. /mɑːtʃ/, U.S. /mɑrtʃ/
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French marche.
Etymology: < French marche pedal of a loom (1514 in Middle French in this sense) < Middle French marcher march v.2
Weaving. Now rare.
A part of a loom, connected to the treadles and transmitting leverage by means of the spring staffs on to the heddle shafts.
ΚΠ
1807 J. Duncan Pract. & Descriptive Ess. Art of Weaving: Pt. I ii. 90 Below the heddles, are two sets of marches, consisting of four marches each, which are moveable at the centres F and I.
1837 L. Hebert Engineer's & Mechanic's Encycl. II. 873 Fig. 1..exhibits a front view of Kendall's power-loom, in which all the principal parts may be seen... s is the breast-roll. t, the long marches. v, the short marches.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1393/2 March (Weaving), one of the short laths laid across the treadles under the shafts.
1954 M. E. Pritchard Short Dict. Weaving 53 Lams or Lamms, also termed Countermarches and Marches, these are a series of wooden laths, or sticks, pivoted from the back, front or side of foot-power looms.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

marchv.1

Brit. /mɑːtʃ/, U.S. /mɑrtʃ/
Forms: Middle English merch, Middle English–1500s marche, Middle English– march; Scottish pre-1700 mairche, pre-1700 marche, pre-1700 marsh, pre-1700 mearch, pre-1700 merche, pre-1700 meyrche, pre-1700 1700s– mairch, pre-1700 1700s– march, pre-1700 1700s– merch.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French marchir.
Etymology: In sense 1a (and probably also in senses 1b, 1c) < Anglo-Norman marchir, mercher and Middle French marchir, marchier to lie alongside, border on (c1170 in Old French) < Anglo-Norman, Old French marche march n.3 In sense 3 after march n.3 (compare sense 5 at that entry).Compare post-classical Latin marchiare (of a person) to border upon (1204 in a British source), (of a place) to border on (from 12th cent. in British sources), (transitive) to separate (as a boundary; c1290 in a British source). It is uncertain whether quot. c1400 at sense 2 should be interpreted as showing an otherwise unattested application of the present word or (as read by some) as antedating march v.2; meten , the reading of the A-text of Piers Plowman, perhaps supports the present interpretation as implying a less radical revision of the sense of the line. ( N.E.D. (1905) lists for this sense also a later example from a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 270, which Dict. Older Sc. Tongue however takes as showing march v.2)
Now chiefly British regional.
1.
a. intransitive. To border on (formerly also with †to, †unto, †upon); to have a common frontier with; to be adjacent (occasionally with together).Said of countries, estates, etc., and also of their rulers, owners, or inhabitants; also in extended use of areas of concern, interest, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > be near [verb (intransitive)] > be in contact > have same boundary
marchc1330
abut1399
coastc1400
adjoin?1523
confine1523
marchese1525
abuttal1545
touch1567
confront1601
conterminate1637
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 4424 (MED) He went him to Malaot, A riche cite..Þe cite on leuedis was..Þat leuedi marched on his lond.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. 2987 (MED) That was in a strange lond, Which marcheth upon Chymerie.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 7815 He graunted þam to haf Southsex, & Estsex, & Mydellesex; for þei merched [a1450 Lamb. marchen] opon Kent.
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Fabula Duorum Mercatorum (Harl.) 16 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 487 (MED) This riche lond..With Surry marchith toward thorient.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde ii. ii. 66 Europe..endureth fro the weste unto the north, & marcheth vnto Asie.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 99 Till occupy Landis, that war till him marcheand.
c1515 in State Papers Henry VIII (1834) II. 19 Orayly is the strongeyst Iryshe rebell that marcheyth with the countye of Meathe.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) xxxiii. sig. Fiiii Ioynynge to thys Erledome there marched a duchy.
1598 R. Hakluyt tr. Vincent of Beauvais in Princ. Navigations (new ed.) I. 65 The..Don, vpon the banke whereof marcheth a certain prince.
1615 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1848) II. 322 Outlandis lordis landis lyand and merchand contigue thairvnto.
1662 J. Lamont Diary (1830) 155 The Earle of Craford, in Fyffe, bought the lands of Carskirdo, that marshes with him.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian iii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 72 She displayed so much kindness to Jeanie Deans, (because she herself, being a Merse woman, marched with Mid-Lothian, in which Jeanie was born) [etc.].
1822 J. Galt Provost xl. 297 A piece of ground that marched with the spot whereon it was intended to construct the new building.
1883 19th Cent. Sept. 399 Nor do they refrain from fighting because they march on each other and do a good business across the frontier.
1895 ‘I. Maclaren’ Days Auld Lang Syne 122 Though oor fields mairch and we've aye been neeburly.
1931 J. Galsworthy Maid in Waiting v. 37 You've got Wilfrid Bentworth in your pocket, Uncle, and their estates march.
1934 W. Lewis Men without Art ii. iv. 138 The problems of the satirist march with those of the fictionist.
1986 New Yorker 13 Oct. 99/3 He bought a rather smaller house, just joining—‘marching with’, as they say—Ballyrankin, and that's where we lived after that.
b. transitive. Chiefly Scottish. To border, bound, or delimit (an area of land, an estate, etc.).
ΚΠ
1550 in C. Rogers Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1880) II. 94 Our town and landis..boundand and marcheand at the north west pairt the landis pertenand the abbay of Scone.
1590 in J. M. Thomson Registrum Magni Sigilli Scotorum (1888) V. 811/2 Quhilk drawdyke merchis the myre..on the west, and the arrabill landis..on the eist.
1760 Caledonian Mercury 17 Nov. in Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) Sheriff-hall burn marches the whole to the south.
1883 W. Thomson Leddy May 23 The same hedge marched the twa estates.
1930 M. Borwick in C. Frederick et al. Foxhunting xxv. 252 The Ainsty country proper which marches the Bramham Moors on the western end, is also entirely composed of grass.
†c. intransitive. With against. To be in a corresponding position across a border from. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. i. ix. f. 24/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I At this Poulruan is a tower of force, marching again ye tower on Fawey side.
†2. intransitive. To be closely linked or associated together. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. Prol. 63 For here money and marchandise marchen togideres.
†3. transitive. Scottish. To fix the bounds of (an area of land, an estate, etc.); to mark the boundaries of with landmarks. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1450 in C. Innes Registrum Episcopatus Brechinensis (1856) I. 151 The north syd of the moor of Brechin perambulat and marched be the Sheriff of Forfar.
1474 in C. Rogers Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 200 Lattyn, oure landis of Tulyfergus..as tha war diuidit pairtit and merchit be the tenandis tham self.
1541 MS Rec. Aberdeen XVII in Jamieson's Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (1880) III. 230/1 The Baillie ordanit the lynaris to pass to the ground of the said tenement, and lyne and marche the same.
1588 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Glasgow (1876) I. 121 And to stob and merche the samyn [landis] that the quantitie may be knawin.
1659 A. Hay Diary (1901) 42 [I] did set fut-stons and merch and meith all the propertie of Locarthill wher it is contiguous wt Symontoun.
a1700 in J.Russell Haigs of Bemersyde (1881) 476 Wher ther lands stents upon my lands on that syd of the loch it is visiabbly merched with ston.
1781 Caledonian Mercury 7 July in Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) The lots are distinctly marched and measured; and the marches will be pointed out by the tenant.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

marchv.2

Brit. /mɑːtʃ/, U.S. /mɑrtʃ/
Forms: late Middle English– march, 1500s mersh, 1500s–1600s martch; Scottish pre-1700 mairche, pre-1700 mairsch, pre-1700 marche, pre-1700 martch, pre-1700 martche, pre-1700 mearch, pre-1700 merche, pre-1700 mertch, pre-1700 1700s– mairch, pre-1700 1700s– march, pre-1700 1700s– merch.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French marcher.
Etymology: < Middle French marcher (15th cent. in sense 1; Old French marchier, marchir, originally to trample (12th cent.; compare Old Occitan marcar also 12th cent. in same sense), hence to walk, to go). In the specific military application the word has been adopted not only in English but in other European languages, as Italian marciare (1530), Spanish marchar (c1550), Portuguese marchar (16th cent.), German marschiren (1608), Dutch marcheren (1599), Danish marchere, Swedish marschera (1621).The etymology of French marcher is obscure; it is perhaps most likely < a Germanic verb cognate with Old English mearcian , Old High German marchōn mark v.; an older view was that the earliest recorded sense ‘to trample’ was developed from a sense ‘to hammer’, and that the word represents a Gaulish Latin verb < late classical Latin marcus hammer. Senses at 4 represent borrowings of two distinct senses of Canadian French marcher , firstly ‘to travel’ (regardless of the mode of transport) and secondly senses developed from the command given to sled dogs (compare mush v.3). For a possible earlier example of the present word see note s.v. march v.1
I. Senses relating to striding in military style.
1.
a. intransitive. To walk in a military manner with regular and measured tread. Of a body of men or troops: to walk in step and in time with a regular and uniform movement. Also: to set out on a march; to move out from a position or base (esp. on a campaign or offensive). Frequently with adverbs, as away, forth, forward, off, on, out, past.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > regular and uniform
marcha1450
society > armed hostility > military operations > manoeuvre > [verb (intransitive)] > move or march
move?a1400
marcha1450
remarch1620
countermarch1644
to get over ——1781
yomp1982
tab1985
society > armed hostility > military operations > evolution > [verb (intransitive)] > march
marcha1450
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail lv. 414 (MED) He hadde An Olde Cosin, and vppon him Marchede..and to-Gederis sore werreden In eche plas.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. xxxix The duke with all his power mershed through the forest of deane.
1591 W. Garrard & R. Hitchcock Arte of Warre 54 They..which march in the formost ranckes.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 267 When they are to march, the law commands them to lay aside all priuate quarrels.
1646 in W. Macgill Old Ross-shire & Scotl. (1911) II. 14 I intreat you martch night and day in their reir.
c1650 (c1515) Sc. Field (Percy) 146 in J. W. Hales & F. J. Furnivall Bp. Percy's Folio MS (1867) I. 219 Then he bowneth him boldlye ouer the broad waters, & manlye him Marcheth [?c1600 Lyme marketh] to the Mill feelde.
1708 E. Cook Sot-weed Factor 13 So to our Inn we march'd away.
1710 London Gaz. No. 4710/1 The Garrison marched out..in the Forenoon.
1742 A. Pope New Dunciad 101 There march'd the bard and blockhead, side by side.
1781 T. Simes Mil. Guide (ed. 3) 12 The army marches to-morrow.
1792 Rules & Regulations His Majesty's Forces i. 23 The field-pieces march with the columns.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. III. 297 The champions were now ordered to march in their turns around the lists.
1846 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 II. xi. 453 The troops marched against the Arabs.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud v. i, in Maud & Other Poems 22 Singing of men that in battle array,..March with banner and bugle and fife To the death.
1924 M. Baring C iii. 22 A regiment of..soldiers would march past to the music of drums.
1956 R. Macaulay Towers of Trebizond vi. 63 Near to where Xenophon and the Ten Thousand marched down from the mountains.
1986 P. Grosskurth Melanie Klein i. iv. 82 A Rumanian army of intervention marched into the country.
b. intransitive. Of cavalry horses or their riders: to journey or advance as a body or in military formation.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > manoeuvre > [verb (intransitive)] > cavalry manoeuvre
march1594
circle1716
1594 G. Chapman Σκìα Νυκτòς sig. Diijv Our horse were marching downe by stealth.
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 213 In the first ranke whereof marched their Harquebusiers on horsebacke.
1690 London Gaz. 2551/3 The 400 Horse..and many Foot..marched to Highlake, where, it's believed, they are Shipping this day.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy V. xx. 85 The strange conduct of count Solmes in ordering the foot to halt, and the horse to march where it could not act.
1813 T. J. Dibdin Metrical Hist. Eng. ii. xii. 283 The whole Procession of Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery, marched in Order of battle.
1886 Polit. Sci. Q. 1 482 The cavalry marched sixty-five miles in these two days.
1940 J. Wheelwright Polit. Self-portrait 24 Horses march in lathered blood up to their nostrils.
1979 Amer. Hist. Rev. 84 1480/2 The First Alabama Cavalry..marched through Georgia with General Sherman.
c. intransitive. Military. Used in the imperative as a word of command. Also march on. Also in extended use (in non-military contexts). See also quick march int.
ΚΠ
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. iii. 60 March on, and marke King Richard how he lookes. View more context for this quotation
1760 New Manual Exerc. (ed. 3) 4 On the Word March, the Officers stepping off with their Left-feet [etc.].
1792 Rules & Regulations His Majesty's Forces i. 23 The word March, given singly, at all times denotes that ordinary time is to be taken.
1832 Proposed Regulations Cavalry iii. 85 On the word March, the First Squadron advances.
1859 Field Exercise Infantry (rev. ed.) 21 The time having been given on a drum, on the word March, the squad will move off.
1886 T. Hardy Mayor of Casterbridge I. xv. 186 Out of bed, sir,..or you leave my employ to-day!.. March on; never mind your breeches.
1904 Mounted Infantry Training (Provisional, H.M. Army) iv. 36 The word ‘Walk’ or ‘Trot’ will in every case precede the word ‘March’ when the men are mounted.
†d. intransitive. In the perfect tense, formed with to be. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. i. 176 Fifteen hundred foot, fiue hundred horse Are marcht vp to my lord of Lancaster. View more context for this quotation
1648 in S. R. Gardiner Hamilton Papers (1880) 206 His tertia, consisting of 5 regiments, is alreadie marcht.
1707 J. Freind Acct. Earl of Peterborow's Conduct in Spain 220 I hope Collonel Wills is March'd.
1711 Boston News-let. 3 Sept. 2/2 Col. Ingoldsby, Col. Schuyler and Col. Whiting with the Palatines and Jersey Forces are March'd.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. x. vi. 50 The Serjeant was just marched off with his Party, when the two Irish Gentlemen arose. View more context for this quotation
e. intransitive. figurative.
ΚΠ
1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore v. ii. sig. K4v Who dare say he's mad, whose words march in so good aray?
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter ii. 10 Under her conduct and standard marcheth the whole feminine army, envy, avarice, pride, &c.
1684 T. Hockin Disc. God's Decrees 352 In the camp, where sin and vice did march uncontroul'd.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 107 The spumy Waves proclaim the watry War. And mounting upwards, with a mighty Roar, March onwards, and insult the rocky shoar. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 34. ¶11 Having thus taken my Resolutions to march on boldly in the Cause of Virtue and good Sense.
1865 Chambers's Jrnl. 213/1 Intellect not only marches, but marches at the ‘double’.
1876 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Tom Sawyer xxxv. 269 It was a noble, a generous, a magnanimous lie..that was worthy to hold up its head and march down through history breast to breast with George Washington's lauded Truth about the hatchet!
1937 J. C. Powys Maiden Castle ii. iii. 101 The great cosmic battle-field up and down which it was his destiny to march.
f. transitive. To traverse (a distance, ground, etc.) in marching. In quot. 1619: to embark on (a campaign).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > [verb (transitive)] > traverse a distance or ground
runeOE
overcomeOE
meteOE
through-gangOE
passc1300
to pass over ——c1300
overpassc1325
tracec1381
travela1393
traverse?a1400
travelc1400
measure?a1425
walkc1450
go1483
journey1531
peragrate1542
trade1548
overspin1553
overtrace1573
tract1579
progress1587
invade1590
waste1590
wear1596
march1606
void1608
recovera1625
expatiate1627
lustrate1721
do1795
slip1817
cover1818
clear1823
track1823
itinerate1830
betravel1852
to roll off1867
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 117 And then he bod..That dayly once they all should march the round About the Cittie.
1619 J. Sempill Sacrilege Sacredly Handled App. 38 Whether we march a Warfare in our Conquering Word, Dieu et mon droit; If [etc.].
1737 W. Whiston tr. Josephus Antiq. Jews xvi. ix, in tr. Josephus Genuine Wks. 527 Herod..in three days time marched seven mansions.
1813 T. Busby tr. Lucretius Nature of Things I. iii. 1240 He..bade his legion march the briny main.
1847 G. Flagg Let. 2 Feb. in Flagg Corr. (1986) 77 He is delighted with a soldiers life & Marching 40 miles a day upon one quart of water.
1884 J. Colborne With Hicks Pasha in Soudan 27 Forty-five miles have to be traversed; this will be marched in three days.
1901 Westm. Gaz. 8 July 7/3 One officer..and twenty men..march eleven miles.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) II. 284/2 A soldier..is forced to march 30 or 40 miles in a single day.
g. intransitive. to march on ——: to approach or enter (a city, etc.) in an organized procession, originally as a military incursion, now also for the purpose of a rally, demonstration, or protest.
ΚΠ
1848 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 323 Advice had been received..that Buonaparte, at the head of an army of twelve or thirteen thousand men, was about to march on Acre.
1932 N. Weyl in New Republic 21 Sept. 145/2 He doubted they would be able to get a hundred thousand men to march on Washington before Election Day.
1962 B. L. Montgomery in Hansard Lords 30 May 227/1 Rule 1, on page 1 of the book of war, is: ‘Do not march on Moscow’.
1992 Economist 14 Mar. 134/3 Before irate Dutchmen don their clogs to march on the Barbican, let it be said that the exhibition's curator..does not think Van Gogh was English.
h. intransitive. To take part in a protest march, rally, demonstration, or similar event (see march n.5 2e).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > rebelliousness > militancy > be militant [verb (intransitive)] > demonstrate or protest
demonstrate1867
protest-march1958
march1967
1967 Freedomways 7 102 Where is the Federal Government today as civil rights workers in Louisville face screaming mobs, throwing rocks and bottles at them as they peacefully march to end housing discrimination?
1969 New Yorker 14 June 76/3 He has repeatedly been asked to march and picket.
1978 G. Greene Human Factor iv. i. 198 No one has protested, no one has marched.
1987 Sunday Express Mag. 29 Mar. 86/1 It was a demonstration of British servicemen against cessation from the Union. Thousands and thousands of people were marching through the streets.
1997 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 25 Sept. 23/1 In West Berlin he met many sixty-eighters..no longer marching in demos but resolutely anti-anti-Communist.
2. intransitive. To walk in a steady, measured, or deliberate manner; to go, proceed. Also with adverbs, as off, on, out. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > [verb (intransitive)]
nimeOE
becomec885
teec888
goeOE
i-goc900
lithec900
wendeOE
i-farec950
yongc950
to wend one's streetOE
fare971
i-wende971
shakeOE
winda1000
meteOE
wendOE
strikec1175
seekc1200
wevec1200
drawa1225
stira1225
glidea1275
kenc1275
movec1275
teemc1275
tightc1275
till1297
chevec1300
strake13..
travelc1300
choosec1320
to choose one's gatea1325
journeyc1330
reachc1330
repairc1330
wisec1330
cairc1340
covera1375
dressa1375
passa1375
tenda1375
puta1382
proceedc1392
doa1400
fanda1400
haunta1400
snya1400
take?a1400
thrilla1400
trace?a1400
trinea1400
fangc1400
to make (also have) resortc1425
to make one's repair (to)c1425
resort1429
ayrec1440
havea1450
speer?c1450
rokec1475
wina1500
hent1508
persevere?1521
pursuec1540
rechec1540
yede1563
bing1567
march1568
to go one's ways1581
groyl1582
yode1587
sally1590
track1590
way1596
frame1609
trickle1629
recur1654
wag1684
fadge1694
haul1802
hike1809
to get around1849
riddle1856
bat1867
biff1923
truck1925
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > steady and deliberate
march1733
mog1857
1568 ( D. Lindsay Satyre (Bannatyne) l. 689 in Wks. (1931) II. 62 We salbe heir, man, or midnicht, Thocht we merche with the mone.
1572 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxxiii ‘Becaus’, quod thay, ‘that ȝe alone tuik Pryde, And thocht that we suld not marche ȝow besyde’.
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 409 That God hath made them men, and not beastes ramping on the earth, or marching vpon all foure.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme l. 53 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 49 Loe thou see'st I march another pace, And come with truth thie falshood to disclose.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies i. iii. 13 In my trauell passing the great gulfes of the Ocean, and marching by other regions of so strange lands.
1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. J. L. G. de Balzac Lett. 77 From thence I march into a meddow.
1733 A. Pope Impertinent 15 Thus finish'd..They march, to prate their Hour before the Fair.
1770 F. Burney Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1988) I. 108 Tea being over we marched into a Larger Room, and minuets were began.
1810 Splendid Follies I. 156 Do march on and shew the village lions.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxv. 90 Miss Ophelia marched straight to her own chamber.
1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xvii. 25 Now in Maytime to the wicket Out I march with bat and pad.
1907 J. Conrad Secret Agent ii. 17 Mr. Verloc..marched now along a street.
1981 L. R. Banks Writing on Wall iii. 29 Kev was in a huff anyway so he got up without a word and marched past Lily to the front door.
1987 M. Collins Angel vi. 111 Doodsie marched off to the kitchen.
3.
a. transitive. To cause (a person, army) to march or move in military order.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > manoeuvre > [verb (transitive)] > cause to march
march?1591
remarch1620
countermarcha1658
society > armed hostility > military operations > evolution > [verb (transitive)] > march
march?1591
?1591 T. Coningsby Jrnl. Siege Rouen (Harl. 288) 22 in Camden Misc. (1847) I Our army was marched..within a myle of Roan, where the rendezvous was appoynted.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. i. 172 [Shall we] Vn-sweare faith sworne, and on the marriage bed Of smiling peace to march a bloody hoast? View more context for this quotation
1642 in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 527 There are great numbers both of horse and foot raised and marched into divers parts of this our Kingdom.
1677 Earl of Orrery Treat. Art of War 69 I would march my Army in two or three several Bodies divers wayes.
1701 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) V. 9 That they may be ready to march them on any occasion.
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 69 As they were wheel'd, or marched, or retreated by their Officers.
1780 J. Reid in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) III. 20 They absolutely refuse to march the drafts to the army.
1840 F. Marryat Olla Podrida I. vii. 60 The French marched an army of non-intervention down to the citadel.
1892 G. F. Northall Eng. Folk-Rhymes 99 O, the mighty Duke of York, With his twenty thousand men, He marched them up a very high hill, And he marched them down again.
1961 Amer. Heritage Bk. Indians 76/1 Topa Inca..marched his mace-men and peltists..down into Chile.
1992 A. W. Eckert Sorrow in our Heart viii. 474 Wayne marched his army down the remaining distance of the Auglaize to its mouth.
b. transitive. To cause (a person) to walk or go, to force to go; to conduct (esp. in a military manner). Also to march off.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk upon or tread [verb (transitive)] > compel to walk
walk1578
to walk Spanish1838
to shank off1848
to march off1884
sashay1928
1779 W. Scot Let. 1 Oct. in B. Franklin Papers (1993) XXX. 428 We expects Orders every Day to be Marchd with the Other prisoners to some other prison.
1847 Knickerbocker 29 329 Early the next morning the ‘floaters’ were marched..with votes in hand, to the ballot box.
1884 Manch. Examiner 4 June 4/7 Many a Persian peasant..has been marched off captive by Turcoman slave-raiders.
1896 ‘M. Field’ Attila ii. 45 I should be glad to march you to the gate.
1926 D. H. Lawrence Plumed Serpent xvi. 248 The officer spoke two words, they saluted and marched off their prisoner.
1980 J. M. Coetzee Waiting for Barbarians iv. 117 They march me out of the yard.
1987 C. Achebe Anthills of Savannah ii. 14 Professor Okong was marched in by a fierce orderly.
4. intransitive. Canadian. To travel, esp. by canoe or dog-sledge. Also in imperative, as a command to a dog or dogs pulling a sledge, and transitive: to urge on (a team of dogs) through snow. Cf. mush v.3
ΚΠ
1794 D. McGillivray Jrnl. (1929) 5 Camped at Lac la Croix..there being no necessity for marching more expeditiously.
1819 S. H. Wilcocke Death B. Frobisher in L. R. Masson Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest (1890) 2nd Ser. 197 Marched the whole day and did not encamp ‘until dark’—‘To march’ is the Canadian term for travelling, and is as frequently, if not oftener, applied to express the progress of a canoe or boat as of a pedestrian.
1873 W. F. Butler in Wild North Land (1904) Pref. 144 Once more the sleds were packed, once more the Untiring Cerf-Vola took his place in the leading harness, and the word ‘march’ was given.
1905 Victoria (Brit. Columbia) Daily Times 28 Oct. 7/3 ‘To march’ for instance, generally, is applied to any progression—including canoe or boat travel.
1959 W. A. Leising Arctic Wings 34 The trappers..gathered their supplies, hitched their dog teams, and ‘marched them’ out across the frozen river to their trap lines.
1959 W. A. Leising Arctic Wings 37 ‘Redzie, march,’ Leo barked at him.
5. transitive. American Football. To advance (a distance, the ball, one's team, etc.), esp. rapidly, while playing offense. Also intransitive: to make an (esp. rapid) offensive advance.
ΚΠ
1974 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 13 Oct. c1/1 The Badgers took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards for a score.
1988 Touchdown Nov. 44/1 Throwing the ball on 18 consecutive plays, Walsh marched the Hurricanes, who were trailing 30–14, 80 yards for a score in just under two minutes.
1989 D. Morrow & M. Keyes Conc. Hist. Sport Canada 154 After ten or fifteen plays of marching the ball downfield, a team felt immense satisfaction in the resulting 1, 3 or 5 points—only to have Stevens gain the same yardage in one pass.
1998 San Diego Union-Tribune (Electronic ed.) 5 Jan. d1 The Chiefs finally found some offensive rhythm in the third quarter and marched to a 20-yard field goal.
II. Extended uses.
†6. intransitive. To be assigned to, or to have a claim to, a specified rank or position; to rank or be comparable with. Also (occasionally) with after, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > comparison > compare [verb (intransitive)] > admit of comparison
parec1450
comparea1500
march1567
to deserve to carry the buckler1642
nick1887
to side up with1895
stack1896
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 32v But herein good heed must be taken, least we match and march with the greeke Sophister.
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 69 Making them march in one degree of equall iustice with their inferiours.
1625 J. Hart Anat. Urines i. iv. 37 My purpose is, first to propound some reasons against the same: and in the next place shall march some authorities of the learned.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 96 Nor are our Cities of sufficiencie to march in the first ranke of magnificence.
1640 Bp. J. Hall Episcopacie iii. i. 208 These [elders] sometimes marched with the highest offices; so we have Elders and Iudges,..Princes and Elders.
7.
a. intransitive. Of an inanimate object or immaterial thing: to travel forward or proceed with a steady and regular movement. Also with various adverbs.
ΚΠ
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. v. 127 Finally the base things to be holden within their teder, by a low, myld, and simple maner of vtterance, creeping rather than clyming, & marching rather than mounting vpwardes.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies i. ii. 7 This space and region by which they faine that stars do continually march and rowle.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ix. 392 I haue seene in an euening march along for Recreation aboue 60 coaches.
a1861 A. H. Clough Poems & Prose Remains (1869) II. 445 Without a strain the great ship marches by.
1997 B. Morrow Giovanni's Gift iii. 317 Phalanxes of dark heavy clouds marched low overhead, and to the east a column of gray smoke rose up into them—someone burning off a field for winter.
b. intransitive. Of a system, scheme, concept, enterprise, etc.: to advance, progress; to move towards completion. Of time: to continue unrelentingly. Also with on, along.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > progress, advance, or further continuance > progress or advance in an action [verb (intransitive)] > make progress or advance (of action or operation)
fremec1000
furtherc1200
profit1340
to go onc1449
grow1487
to commence to, intoa1500
framea1529
to get ground?1529
movec1540
work1566
promove1570
advance1577
devolve1579
to come on1584
progress1612
to gain ground1625
germinate1640
proceed1670
to gather ground1697
march1702
to make its way1711
to come forward1722
develop1744
to turn a wheel1864
shape1865
come1899
1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) iii. lxiii. 31 So wrought this nimble Artist, and admir'd Her self to see the Work march on so fast.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xvii. 200 His symptoms marched rapidly to their result.
1868 J. H. Blunt Reformation Church of Eng. I. 250 After this events marched quickly.
1882 W. Ballantine Some Exper. Barrister's Life ii. 14 Bricks and mortar, marching in all directions, have eaten up many a green field.
1889 J. H. Skrine Mem. E. Thring 203 It was the president who made the enterprise march.
1951 C. Hare Eng. Murder viii. 94 ‘Your glass, Mr. Robert,’ he said. ‘It is almost time.’ ‘Time marches on!’ cried Robert wildly.
1983 E. R. Tufte Visual Display Quantitative Information I. i. 28 The time series plot is the most frequently used... With one dimension marching along to the regular rhythm of seconds, minutes, hours.
1995 N. Hudson Soil Conservation (ed. 3) x. 225 The successive courses are planted successively on each strip, so that each year the rotation marches down the field by one strip width.
†8. to march off.
a. intransitive. To become a bankrupt. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > [verb (intransitive)] > become bankrupt
to play (the) bankrupt1548
bankrupt1552
to take Ludgate1585
break1600
to go down the weather1611
to break the bank1623
to go to the right shop1655
to swallow a spider1670
to march off1683
to go off1688
to break up shop1712
bust1834
burst1848
to go up King Street1864
to go bust1875
to go under1882
to belly up1886
1683 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 251 Mr. Temple, an eminent banker.., is lately broke for £150,000, and tis thought severall of that calling will march off also.
b. intransitive. To die. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [verb (intransitive)]
forsweltc888
sweltc888
adeadeOE
deadc950
wendeOE
i-wite971
starveOE
witea1000
forfereOE
forthfareOE
forworthc1000
to go (also depart , pass, i-wite, chare) out of this worldOE
queleOE
fallOE
to take (also nim, underfo) (the) deathOE
to shed (one's own) blood?a1100
diec1135
endc1175
farec1175
to give up the ghostc1175
letc1200
aswelta1250
leavea1250
to-sweltc1275
to-worthc1275
to yield (up) the ghost (soul, breath, life, spirit)c1290
finea1300
spilla1300
part?1316
to leese one's life-daysa1325
to nim the way of deathc1325
to tine, leave, lose the sweatc1330
flit1340
trance1340
determinec1374
disperisha1382
to go the way of all the eartha1382
to be gathered to one's fathers1382
miscarryc1387
shut1390
goa1393
to die upa1400
expirea1400
fleea1400
to pass awaya1400
to seek out of lifea1400–50
to sye hethena1400
tinea1400
trespass14..
espirec1430
to end one's days?a1439
decease1439
to go away?a1450
ungoc1450
unlivec1450
to change one's lifea1470
vade1495
depart1501
to pay one's debt to (also the debt of) naturea1513
to decease this world1515
to go over?1520
jet1530
vade1530
to go westa1532
to pick over the perch1532
galpa1535
to die the death1535
to depart to God1548
to go home1561
mort1568
inlaikc1575
shuffle1576
finish1578
to hop (also tip, pitch over, drop off, etc.) the perch1587
relent1587
unbreathe1589
transpass1592
to lose one's breath1596
to make a die (of it)1611
to go offa1616
fail1623
to go out1635
to peak over the percha1641
exita1652
drop1654
to knock offa1657
to kick upa1658
to pay nature her due1657
ghost1666
to march off1693
to die off1697
pike1697
to drop off1699
tip (over) the perch1699
to pass (also go, be called, etc.) to one's reward1703
sink1718
vent1718
to launch into eternity1719
to join the majority1721
demise1727
to pack off1735
to slip one's cable1751
turf1763
to move off1764
to pop off the hooks1764
to hop off1797
to pass on1805
to go to glory1814
sough1816
to hand in one's accounts1817
to slip one's breatha1819
croak1819
to slip one's wind1819
stiffen1820
weed1824
buy1825
to drop short1826
to fall (a) prey (also victim, sacrifice) to1839
to get one's (also the) call1839
to drop (etc.) off the hooks1840
to unreeve one's lifeline1840
to step out1844
to cash, pass or send in one's checks1845
to hand in one's checks1845
to go off the handle1848
to go under1848
succumb1849
to turn one's toes up1851
to peg out1852
walk1858
snuff1864
to go or be up the flume1865
to pass outc1867
to cash in one's chips1870
to go (also pass over) to the majority1883
to cash in1884
to cop it1884
snuff1885
to belly up1886
perch1886
to kick the bucket1889
off1890
to knock over1892
to pass over1897
to stop one1901
to pass in1904
to hand in one's marble1911
the silver cord is loosed1911
pip1913
to cross over1915
conk1917
to check out1921
to kick off1921
to pack up1925
to step off1926
to take the ferry1928
peg1931
to meet one's Maker1933
to kiss off1935
to crease it1959
zonk1968
cark1977
to cark it1979
to take a dirt nap1981
1693–4 A. Wood Life Jan. (1894) III. 441 Lord Sidney..was taken also with a fit, and would have marched off, had it not been for..Dr. Radcliff his physitian.

Phrases

intransitive. to march to a different drummer and variants: to adopt a different approach or attitude to that of the majority of people; to be unconventional or individual.
ΚΠ
1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 348 If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.]
1984 New Yorker 28 May 60/2 He's a very intelligent man... He just marches to a different drummer.
1992 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 13 Sept. 7/1 Their main goal in life is to show Daddy and his Rotarian friends that they will always march to the beat of a different drummer.
1993 A. Dacyczyn Tightwad Gaz. iv. 183/2 I have given my best ‘march to your own drummer’ speeches, but I still can't put pudding and pickles in their lunch boxes.
1998 Daily Tel. 16 Mar. 17/2 Dries Van Noten and Jean Paul Gaultier marched to a different drum, with exuberant folklore and mix-master references.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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