▪ I. remark, n.1
(rɪˈmɑːk)
Also 7 remarke, remarque.
[ad. F. remarque, f. remarquer to remark.]
† 1. The fact or quality of being worthy of notice or comment. In phr. of (..) remark. Obs.
| 1654 H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 201 To prepare a charge against the Archbishop of Canterbury, as one of prime remarque in forming of these Canons. 1680 Morden Geog. Rect. (1685) 410 Some Relations make mention of the Naiques of Madure..but give us little of Remarque with Certainty. 1702 W. J. tr. Bruyn's Voy. Levant lxiv. 237 In which there were three Women, but of no great remark. |
2. Observation, notice; comment.
| 1680 Otway Orphan ii. vi, Pass not one circumstance without remark. 1680 Morden Geog. Rect. (1685) 123 The Arsenal, the College of the Jesuits..are worthy of Remarque. 1781 Cowper Table T. 205 The cause..may yet elude Conjecture and remark, however shrewd. 1827 Hood Mids. Fairies lxxvii, Roots, like any bones of buried men, Push'd through the rotten sod for fear's remark. 1830 Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil. ii. iv. (1851) 132 The grand discovery..originated in his casual remark of the disappearance of one of the images. 1885 Manch. Exam. 15 May 5/3 Lord R. Churchill's latest escapade..is the theme of general remark. |
| Comb. 1834 A. Cunningham Brit. Lit. 19 It is remark-worthy that the most natural and impassioned songs in..our literature were written by a ploughman-lad. |
b. Air of observation; look. rare—1.
| 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. lvii, Of all the gentle tenants of the place, There was a man of special grave remark. |
3. a. An act of observing or noticing; an observation. Now rare. † Also const. of.
| 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 41 For a clearer intelligence of the worthiest remarkes we made in that great journy. 1676 Grew Exper. Luctation iii. §56 If a diligent remarque be made of all those various Colours, Smells [etc.]. 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 448 b, The principal Remarks of this illustrious Planet, made by the Ancients, were these following. 1711 Addison Spectator No. 50 ¶8 As for the Women of the Country, not being able to talk with them, we could only make our Remarks upon them at a Distance. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Butler Wks. II. 188 He had watched with great diligence the operations of human nature... From such remarks proceeded [etc.]. 1855 Browning Fra Lippo 128, I had a store of such remarks, be sure, Which, after I found leisure, turned to use. |
b. A verbal or written observation; a comment; a brief expression of opinion or criticism.
| 1673 [R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 4 That we may better understand the pertinency of this Remarque. 1698 Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 123 This is what I intend; only I have one Remarque to make upon the two other Heads before I proceed to treat of this. 1716 (title) Weekly Remarks and Reflections upon the most material news, foreign and domestic. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, Which drew from him a remark that the style of this apartment was not strictly Gothic. 1820 B. Silliman Tour fr. Hartford to Quebec (1824) 63 The numerous manuscript remarks and annotations on the blank leaves and margins of the books. 1883 F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius iv, He could not bear to hear Mr. Barker's chaffing remarks. |
| attrib. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Work-bk. 568 Remark-Book. This contains hydrographical observations of every port visited, and is sent annually to the admiralty. |
† c. A mark or record of an observation. Obs.—1
| 1789 G. Keate Pelew Isl. 271 He took a piece of line, which he had brought with him for the purpose of making remarks, and tied a knot thereon as a remembrance of the circumstance. |
† 4. A sign, mark, indication of something notable. Obs.
| 1663 Heath Flagellum (1672) 1 Fate..brought him [Cromwell] into the world without any terrible remark of his portentuous Life. 1676 I. Mather K. Philip's War (1862) 64 This day deserves to have a Remark set upon it. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. lii. 520 That which gave a greater Remark to this favourable Providence of God to the Nation. |
† b. A mark or indication of a quality; a remaining trace of something. Obs.
| 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 108 It was not possible almost to wish better or more remarks of Christian Devotion. 1676 Wiseman Surg. i. xxv. 140 She..is not so freed of that Disease, but that she hath sometimes little Remarques of it. 1686 Goad Celest. Bodies i. iii. 7 God himself hath pleased to give it as a remarque of his power that He causes it to rain on one City, and not on another. |
† c. A marked physical feature. Obs. rare.
| 1660 Waterhouse Arms & Arm. 20 So also some have been named from bodily remarks, as..Fairfax from their faire bush of haire. c 1661 Mrq. Argyle's Will. in Harl. Misc. (1746) VIII. 29/2 Lest the Remarks of his Face should fright fanciful People like a Spectre. |
† d. A remarkable object. Obs. rare.
| 1675 Ogilby Brit. Introd. 1 The more obvious and considerable Remarques of a City. 1678 (title) England's Remarques, giving an exact account of the several shires, counties, and islands in England and Wales. |
▪ II. remark, n.2
(rɪˈmɑːk)
Also re-mark.
Anglicized form of remarque. Also attrib.
| 1880 Academy 18 Dec. 449/1 The remark proof carries a very good dry-point portrait of the painter. 1881 Athenæum 15 Jan. 100 A new etched plate by Mr. Samuel Palmer, of which a re-mark proof is before us... The re-marks on our impression are [etc.]. |
▪ III. remark, v.1
(rɪˈmɑːk)
Also 7 remarque.
[ad. F. remarquer: see re- and mark v.]
† 1. a. trans. To mark out, distinguish. Obs.
| 1633 Ford 'Tis Pity ii. v, Thou art a man remark'd to taste of mischief. 1651 Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year ii. Ep. Ded., Those blessings and separations with which God hath remarked your family and person. 1671 Milton Samson 1309 His manacles remark him, there he sits. |
† b. To point out, indicate. Obs.
| 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. Disc. xviii. §5 This effect of power does also remark the Divine wisdom, who hath ordained such symboles. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 11 They yet remark the Rock Moses miraculously drew water out of. 1740 tr. De Mouhy's Fort. Country-Maid (1741) II. 61 [She] remarked to me a very handsome Man, who had his Eyes continually upon us. 1742 Fielding & Young tr. Aristophanes' Plutus iii. iii. note, This is literal from the Greek, and the beauty of it need not be remarked. |
2. a. To observe, take notice of, perceive.
| 1675 R. Burthogge Causa Dei 35 A Passage in the accurate Pausanias, which I could not but Remarque when I read it. 1718 Free-thinker No. 62. 45 It was customary..to send out a Slave to remark what was said in the Streets. 1765 H. Walpole Otranto v, Has not your highness remarked it? 1792 C. Smith Desmond III. 156, I remark him every day pass by the windows of the house. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis xx, The looks of gloom and despair which even Mr. Morgan had remarked. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 120 In the Laws, we remark a change in the place assigned by him to pleasure and pain. |
b. With obj. clause.
| 1768 G. White Selborne xxi, I shall be very curious to remark whether they will call on us at their return in the spring. 1832 F. Trollope Dom. Manners Amer. xx. (1839) 184, I remarked that it was not very unusual at Washington for a lady to take the arm of a gentleman. |
3. a. To say, utter, or set down, as an observation or comment.
| 1694 Locke Ess. Hum. Und. (ed. 2) iii. ix. 275 It is easie to observe, what has been before remarked, [etc.]. 1719 Waterland Christ's Div. ii. Wks. 1823 II. 33, I shall only remark, that when this text is away [etc.]. 1781 Cowper Hope 429 The writer well remarks, a heart that knows To take with gratitude..is all in all. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey i. ii, ‘Oh, my Lord!’ carelessly remarked Vivian, ‘I thought it was a mere on dit!’ 1849 Lytton Caxtons xi. i, As I have had occasion before to remark, Sphinx and Enigma are nouns feminine. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 12 The modern philosopher would remark that the indefinite is equally real with the definite. |
b. intr. To make a remark on a thing. Also without prep., to make remarks.
| 1845 J. Ruskin Let. 17 June in H. I. Shapiro Ruskin in Italy (1972) 118 Perhaps..it is an English cheesemonger & his wife, who come in, and remark, as happened to me the other day while I was looking at the gates of Ghiberti. 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. xii. (1901) 313 We can..understand the singular fact remarked on by several observers that [etc.]. 1861 Lever One of Them xviii, Remarking on a little tinted sketch at the top of the letter. |
Hence reˈmarking vbl. n.
| 1751 Harris Hermes ii. i. (1765) 232 In English likewise it deserves remarking, how the Sense is changed by changing of the Articles. 1854 W. Jay Autobiog. ix. 91 Nothing in my estimation and remarkings ever being able to atone for the want of consistency. |