Denmark

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A nation located in Northern Europe known for its flat landscape and coastal islands
2. A European country famous for its maritime history and welfare state
3. A Scandinavian kingdom situated on the Jutland Peninsula and surrounding isles

Etymology: The name combines two Old English elements: "Dene", the word for the Danes, and "mearc", meaning "march" in the sense of a border or frontier region. So "Denmark" literally meant "the border land of the Danes." The Old English form "Denemearc" was itself a calque, a word-for-word translation, of the Old Norse "Danmǫrk," which means the same thing in the language the Vikings spoke. The "march" element is the surprising part. Today "march" in English suggests soldiers stepping in unison, but the Old English "mearc" named a boundary, and the same root survives in the word "mark," as in a boundary marker. Many English place names of this kind preserved old frontier meanings, and "Denemearc" originally described a zone along the edge of Danish settlement rather than the whole kingdom. The name entered Middle English in the forms "Denemarke" and "Denmarke," which show the Old English word gradually taking on its modern shape. The country's own name has thus stayed tied to its Scandinavian neighbours' language from the start, preserved in English through the Old English translation.