demarcation

Meanings

1. The act of marking off a boundary or setting a limit, notably by belligerents signing a treaty or ceasefire.
2. A limit thus fixed, in full demarcation line.
3. Any strictly defined separation.

Etymology

First recorded c.1752, from Spanish línea de demarcación and/or Portuguese linha de demarcação, the demarcation line laid down by the Pope on May 4, 1493, dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal on a line 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Both derive from demarcar, from de- + marcar (“to mark”), from Italian marcare, from the same Germanic root as march.