unˈmarked, ppl. a.
[un-1 8. Cf. ON. {uacu}markaðr; also ON. {uacu}merktr (MSw. omärkter, Sw. omärkt, older Da. umærket.)]
1. a. Having received no mark or impress; left without a mark; having no distinguishing or identificatory mark.
| 14.. Sir Beues (M.) 160/3111 None went vnmarked away, That Beuys hyt wyth Morglay. 1480 Cely Papers (Camden) 53, [1093] felles qwherof be iiij{supc} xlvj Cottysowlde on⁓markyd and the rembnant..be markyd w{supt} an O. a 1578 Lindesay Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 320 Nane wald resawe thame [sc. pennies] nathir marcat nor onmarcat. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 199 You may know such a man's Flock of Sheep by the mark; when yet perhaps some may be un⁓markt. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4104/4 Stoln.., 2 Sweet-meat Spoons, forked, unmarked. c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Arts II. 762 That the magnet..may rest with its marked end on the unmarked end of A. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 211 The name of Maverick, used in Texas to designate an unmarked yearling. 1936 M. Mitchell Gone with Wind xxx. 502 The thousands in unmarked graves who would never come home. 1960 ‘E. McBain’ Give Boys Great Big Hand (1962) v. 42 The unmarked police sedan pulled to the curb. 1967 L. Hughes Panther & Lash 65 They buried Lumumba In an unmarked grave. But he needs no marker—For air is his grave. 1975 New Yorker 2 June 101/1 The two patrolmen had driven in their unmarked car to the west end of the Mercer Island Floating Bridge. 1979 C. McCarry Better Angels iii. iii. 208 He had flown in from Paris..in his own unmarked plane. |
| Comb. 1895 Daily News 25 Mar. 8/6 The attempt to unite the unmarked iron firms has not been abandoned. |
b. Not marked off or out, not distinguished or characterized (by something).
| 1791 F. Burney Jrnl. Dec. (1972) I. 103 Our visit to Mrs. Montagu turned out very unmarked; I met my good Mrs. & Miss ord, & a little chat with them was all my entertainment. 1815 Monthly Rev. LXXVI. 455 Virgil's characters are mostly cold, unmarked, and not attaching. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xi, Men..whose spirit and courage lie hidden..under an unmarked or a plain exterior. 1882 Farrar Early Chr. II. 482 Compositions so short..and so unmarked by special features. |
c. Of a linguistic construction, form, etc.: not marked (see marked ppl. a. 1 c).
| 1933, etc. [see marked ppl. a. 1 c]. 1964 C. Barber Present-Day Eng. iv. 105 Author..can be used of both men and women; this is called the unmarked member of the pair [author: authoress]. 1978 Sci. Amer. Nov. 95/1 In the case of ‘wide’ and ‘narrow’, ‘wide’ is the unmarked word: asking ‘How wide is the road?’ does not suggest that the road is wide, but asking ‘How narrow is the road?’ does suggest that the road is narrow. 1980 Amer. Speech LV. 88 Features of an unmarked register may be imported into a marked one, but not vice versa. |
2. Unnoticed, unobserved.
| 1533 More Debell. Salem Wks. 1026/2 Here was himselfe faine..to begyle the reader vppon the readyng of the place, and make hym passe ouer his faute for the while vnmarked. 1583 Babington Commandm. (1590) 251 Sathan breedeth by his vnmarked creeping into our affections a misliking of such a man or woman. 1628 Sir S. D'Ewes Jrnl. (1783) 42 Hee passed quietlie unmarked..out of the saied hall. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 441 He through the midst unmarkt..past. 1744 Akenside Pleas. Imag. ii. 184 Oft the hours From morn to eve have stol'n unmark'd away. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xiii, Like one who has suddenly recognized some mighty hero..in the person of an unknown and unmarked stranger. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xcviii, Let her great Danube rolling fair Enwind her isles, unmark'd of me. |
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Add: Hence (in sense 1 c) unˈmarkedness n.
| 1970 Univ. Hawaii Working Papers in Ling. Aug. 23 (heading) Explaining the unmarkedness of antevocalic..and postvocalic..in the syllable. 1988 J. Seidler tr. Mayerthaler's Morphological Naturalness i. 9 Other cases in which the relative unmarkedness of a category results from the biological factors of the speaker..are easily found. |