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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

march

/mɑːtʃ/
A formal, rhythmic way of walking, used especially by soldiers, by bands, and in ceremonies.

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English marchen, from Middle French marcher (“to march, walk”), from Old French marchier (“to stride, to march, to trample”), from Frankish *markōn (“to mark, mark out, to press with the foot”), from Proto-Germanic *markōną (“to mark”). Akin to Old English mearc, ġemearc (“mark, boundary”). Compare mark, from Old English mearcian.

    Compare typologically Russian сле́довать (slédovatʹ) (akin to след (sled)). Also compare пятно́ (pjatnó) (<~ пята́ (pjatá)).

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English marche (“tract of land along a country's border”), from Old French marche (“boundary, frontier”), from Frankish *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō, from Proto-Indo-European *mórǵs (“edge, boundary”).

    Etymology 3

    From Middle English merche, from Old English merċe, mereċe, from Proto-West Germanic *marik, from Proto-Indo-European *móri (“sea”). Cognate Middle Low German merk, Old High German merc, Old Norse merki (“celery”). Compare also obsolete or regional more (“carrot or parsnip”), from Proto-Indo-European *mork- (“edible herb, tuber”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishmarchen
      • derivedMiddle Frenchmarcher “to march, walk”
        • derivedOld Frenchmarchier “to stride, to march, to trample”
          • derivedFrankish*markōn “to mark, mark out, to press with the foot”
            • derivedProto-Germanic*markōną “to mark”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishmarche “tract of land along a country's border”
      • derivedOld Frenchmarche “boundary, frontier”
        • derivedFrankish*marku “mark, border”
          • derivedProto-Germanic*markō “boundary; boundary marker”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*mórǵs “edge, boundary”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishmerche
      • inheritedOld Englishmerċe “smallage”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*marik
          • derivedProto-Indo-European*móri “sea”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*mer- “to rub, pack”

    Related: Old English mearc, Middle Low German merk, Old High German merc, Old Norse merki

    Meanings

    noun
    1. A formal, rhythmic way of walking, used especially by soldiers, by bands, and in ceremonies.
    2. A journey so walked.
    3. A political rally or parade.
    4. Any song in the genre of music written for marching (see Wikipedia's article on this type of music)
    5. Steady forward movement or progression.
    6. The feat of taking all the tricks of a hand.
    verb
    1. To walk with long, regular strides, as a soldier does.
    2. To cause someone to walk somewhere.
    3. To go to war; to make military advances.
    4. To make steady progress.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: march