watermarkn.
/ˈwɔːtəmɑːk/, U.S. /ˈwɔdərˌmɑrk/, /ˈwɑdərˌmɑrk/ I. Senses relating to water.† 3. Scottish. A boundary mark indicating the line of separation between the waters of different rivers (belonging to different owners). Obsolete. rare.
1. † a. A mark made to note the level which water reaches in a container. Obsolete. rare.
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1571 T. Digges in L. Digges's Geom. Pract.: Pantometria iii. xiv. sig. S.iij Ye did multiply his sides square in the distance betweene the water markes, ye shall now multiply the same distance or difference of water markes in the base of the Prisma.
b. The level at which a body of water, such as a river, well, lake, etc., normally stands, or to which the tide usually rises or falls; a line marking this. Also: the height of such a level above mean sea level. See also high-water mark n. 1, low-water mark n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > tide > type of tide > [noun] > high > mark
sea-mark1485
high-water mark1553
watermark1577
flood-mark1622
tide-mark1799
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 353/1 The Sea so decreased and shranke from the old accustomed water markes and coastes of the land.
1661 T. Salusbury tr. B. Castelli Of Mensuration Running Waters i. 16 The Po, distant from the Sea about fifty or sixty miles at Ferara, shall have Banks that be above twenty feet higher than the ordinary Water-marks.
1678 J. Dryden All for Love i. 1 Men and Beasts Were born above the tops of Trees, that grew On th' utmost Margin of the Water-mark.
1751 Act 24 Geo. II c. 8 § 16 Till the Water is sunk below the Watermark.
1791 European Mag. & London Rev. Jan. 15/1 They began to undermine the fort, beginning at the water-mark of Kentucke river, which is sixty yards from the fort.
1823 S. Rogers Italy (new ed.) I. 91 Those hundred Isles..That rise abruptly from the water-mark.
1889 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 25 125 Plunging through the sand we hope to find something on the water-mark.
1909 O. Lodge Survival of Man ii. 12 The Forth Bridge stands upon piers sunk below the water-mark by the painful and long continued labours of Italian workmen.
1985 Cambr. Encycl. Life Sci. vii. 182/1 Where waves or currents are particularly strong, or where coastal cliffs descend to well below the water-mark, the intertidal zone is rocky.
2010 St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press (Nexis) 9 Sept. The lake reached a new all-time low days before, hitting 919.65 feet above sea level, down from the normal watermark of 924.89 feet above sea level.
c. figurative and in extended use. A standard, level, or norm against which something can be measured or compared; a benchmark. Cf. high-water mark n. 2, low-water mark n. 2.
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the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > comparison > [noun] > standard of comparison
watermark1660
point of reference1772
base1833
reference point1849
benchmark1884
profile1914
marker1979
1660 J. Martin Hosannah 23 If it please God to take us away from our children e're they can discern betwixt good and evill (and 'twas no easie matter to discern, when from the very Pulpits you should hear evill call'd good, and good evill) they have now some water-marks set up in Jordan again.
1829 W. M. Thackeray Let. 18 July (1945) II. 568 I was much worse this time last year, and can see by the watermarks how much lower the tide is.
1896 E. A. King Ital. Highways 62 The water-mark above which it is undesirable that any woman's knowledge shall rise.
1900 Rep. Frauds & Embezzlements Cuban Postal Officials 19 July 207 In the matter of entertaining I have set too high a watermark to maintain in the future on a salary of $6,500 a year.
1989 Guardian 17 Feb. 20 The official measure of unemployment has fallen below the politically and psychologically important watermark of two million for the first time since 1981.
2000 J. A. Buckler Lit. Lorgnette v. 143 The ‘fallen woman’ descends below the watermark of respectable society's norms.
2.
a. The level to which floodwater has risen; a mark left by floodwater.
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the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flood or flooding > [noun] > mark left by
watermark1599
1599 R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. ii. 27 Sometimes the Sea floweth into the woods as we might perceiue by the water markes.
1690 E. Warren Geologia xvi. 345 Houses, Towns, or Cities, stood so high upon Mountains, as to be above the Water-mark of the Flood.
1786 C. Vallancey Vindic. Anc. Hist. Ireland Introd. 50 The altars were erected over the Island, where the waters had reached... Fossile bones have also been discovered under this water mark.
1822 J. Flint Lett. from Amer. 122 A watermark on the beach showed that the Ohio had lately risen to the height of fourteen or fifteen feet.
1864 London Standard 14 Mar. 6/2 The water-mark shows that some of the house have been submerged nearly to the roof.
1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads ii. 14 Bright green reeds eight feet high, with a yellow water-mark on their lower stems.
1973 J. J. Rygiel & P. W. Warnagiris Great Flood 1972 255 (caption) Water mark on a Market Street, Kingston, building shows the unbelievable depth of the flood water.
2006 Timaru (N.Z.) Herald (Nexis) 16 Nov. 1 The flooding left a water mark on his fence about half a metre high.
b. A mark or stain made by water; water damage. Also figurative.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > soiled condition > [noun] > stained condition > stain > by water
water stain1830
watermark1859
1859 Photogr. News 14 Oct. 61/1 Stains will appear, water marks will cover the film, sediments will rest on the plate, failures will arise.
1895 Libr. Notes July 208 In dampening care must be taken not to..leave a water mark.
1915 L. Harmuth Dict. Textiles Watermark, spots left on silks and woolens by drops of water.
1949 Amer. Speech 24 92 If a stain or spot results from this application of water, the peltry is said to have a watermark.
1990 R. N. Taylor in A. Parfrey Apocalypse Culture (rev. ed.) 159 The Process has left an indelible watermark upon the post-psychedelic era, and have [sic] become a part of that era's urban folklore.
2004 B. Flexner in Pop. Woodworking: Compl. Bk. Tips, Tricks & Techniques lx. 229 Watermarks occur on furniture with finishes that have aged.
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the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] > land-boundary > boundary mark > in water
watermark1632
1632 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 652/2 Cum signis fluvialibus lie water markis intra aquas de Done et Loquhell.
1637 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 266/2 Cum molendino, maneriei loco, signis fluvialibus lie water-merkis inter aquas de Done et Loquhell.
4. Nautical. The level of a ship's draught (draught n. 19); a line showing this.Frequently one of several lines painted on a ship's hull, indicating the depth of water to which it sinks under various conditions, such as water temperature and salinity, load weight, etc., often with modifying word, as light water-mark, load-water-mark.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > side(s) of vessel > [noun] > waterline > mark to show waterline
nail1644
watermark1754
disc1875
Plimsoll line1877
Plimsoll's mark1877
Plimsoll's pancake1877
1754 M. Murray tr. H. L. Duhamel du Monceau Elements Naval Archit. i. 9 in Treat. Ship-building The load-water mark abaft exceeds that afore.
1764 J. Burton Present State Navigation Thames 36 The Gauger should first affix on the Side the Water-mark of 3 Feet Draught.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 418/2 The ship displaces 1788 tons at her light water mark.
1829 G. Jones Sketches Naval Life I. 5 This deck is supplied with air by a range of air ports twelve inches by eight, a few feet above water mark.
1883 W. C. Russell Sailors' Lang. Water-marks, the figures on a ship's stern showing the depth of water she draws.
1921 Scotsman 27 Oct. 8 Thomas Malley, who is charged with having..opened the sea connections in the engineroom of the vessel below the watermark, or otherwise made holes below the mark and caused the ship to leak.
2006 B. Barrass & D. R. Derrett Ship Stability for Masters & Mates (ed. 6) xxviii. 262 LWNA mark is the lumber winter north atlantic watermark. It is to be horizontally in line with the more usual WNA mark.
II. Senses relating to design.
5.
a. A distinguishing mark or design impressed into a sheet of paper during manufacture, typically visible only when the sheet is held up to the light. Now also figurative: a stylistic motif or recurrent theme. [See note in etymology section.]
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > paper > [noun] > water(-)mark
watermark1708
waterline1779
foolscap1795
watermarking1849
countermark1927
1708 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 11 Mar. (1886) II. 98 Has sent specimens of old paper (for water-marks &c.).
1787 J. Fenn Orig. Lett. I. Pref. p. xxi The paper-marks are those figures formed by wires, on the sieve at the bottom of the mould in which the paper is made, and are impressed on it in its pulpy state... They are often called the water-marks.
1816 S. W. Singer Researches Hist. Playing Cards 144 The watermark most prevalent..is found on the paper of books printed by Lucas Brandis de Schass.
1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh II. 237 It showed a water-mark of a lion standing upright.
1913 F. W. Cornish Jane Austen x. 226 As the water-marks in the original manuscript are 1803 and 1804 it could not have been written before that time.
1947 Progress of Paper (Paper Trade Jrnl.) xiv. 190/1 The watermark of the 1539, A.D., so called hand paper was a hand with a star at finger ends.
1973 Slavic Rev. 32 87 The linguistic watermark betrays an even deeper involvement between author and work than the visual one does.
1993 A. Rich What is found There xxiii. 205 Stevens's reliance on one-dimensional and abstract images of African-Americans is a watermark in his poetry.
2008 Birmingham Evening Mail (Nexis) 2 Jan. 20 To avoid being fooled by a fake: Ensure..that the watermark is within the paper rather than printed on it.
b. A metal device used to impress a distinguishing mark into paper.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > for creating watermark
watermark1849
1849 Mechanics' Mag. 18 Aug. 161/2 The manufacture of water marks formed in dies with a backing of metal.
1854 C. Tomlinson Obj. Art-Manuf.: Paper 22 Water-marks are ornamental figures in wire or thin brass, sewn upon the wires of the mould, and like those wires, they leave an impression, by rendering the paper where it lies on them, thinner and more translucent.
1906 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 18 May 684/1 The ‘wiremark’, as it is called, is as much a ‘watermark’ as the watermark itself.
1991 E. W. Robertson Fund. Document Exam. xx. 299 Wire watermarks are line designs made with metal and attached to the dandy rolls.
c. Computing. An item of code embedded in a digital image, video, or audio file in order to provide copyright information; = digital watermark n. at digital n. and adj. Compounds 2.
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1994 Proc. Internat. Conf. Image Processing 86/1 The watermark is capable of carrying such information as authentication or authorization codes, or a legend essential for image interpretation.
2002 K. Chen et al. in G. Hommel & S. Huanye Internet Challenge 42 There is plenty of room to hide a RSA signature and some auxiliary data into the watermark.
2010 C. Morrison & D. Wells Computer Literacy Basics (ed. 3) ii. 44 Invisible watermarks are often embedded in the file and can be used to provide legal evidence of copyright infringement.
6. A pattern resembling water ripples, esp. in moire fabrics, such as watered silk (cf. watered adj.1 5).
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > patterned > waved or watered > pattern
swimming1611
watering1647
water1721
watermark1893
water waving1894
1893 Godey's Mag. Nov. 637/1 Moiré antique divides the honors about evenly with moiré française, which, instead of showing the wide, spreading water-mark of the former, is watered in rather narrow strips.
1899 H. Caine Manxman ii. 130 A white silk handkerchief, with a watermark, was chosen instead.
1943 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 28 May 35/1 The coat, embroidered in a pattern like a watermark on moire, in tube beads of crystals and silver.
2003 K. Slater Environmental Impact Textiles vii. 70 In moiré finishing, in which a fake watermark is embedded into a synthetic fabric in an attempt to make it look like silk, heat and pressure operations take place.
Compounds
C1. General attributive (in senses relating to design).
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1826 Repertory Patent Inventions 2 323 A warp may also be produced consisting of wires the same size, with a weft of similar wires..to produce transversedly the large water-mark lines common in laid paper.
1836 J. P. Willoughby Let. 26 May in Indian Law Comm.: Copies Special Rep. (1844) vii. 414 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 623) XXXVII. 1 The exchange..of stamp paper not bearing the water-mark device, for that bearing the said mark.
1922 Handbk. Quality Standard Papers 107 A cylindrical dandy roll which carries the watermark pattern in relief upon its surface.
1970 Daily Herald (Provo, Utah) 4 June 7/4 Balloon back chairs and watermark silk velvet drapes and a brass bed from a governor's mansion in Denver complete the decor.
2006 S. Boorman Ottaviano Petrucci v. 193 A number of discrete batches of paper, all with the same watermark design.
2009 T. Das in T. Rowe Interior Textiles iv. 107 Moiré is also an embossed effect of watermark lines created on a fabric that has fine ribs, by a calendaring roller engraved with a wavy pattern.
C2.
watermark detector n. (a) a device used to see the watermark on a stamp; (b) Computing a piece of hardware or software for detecting a digital watermark in an image, video, or audio file.
ΚΠ
1907 Philatelic West 30 Apr. Jack always had a lot to do with his perforation gauge, watermark detector and other specialist implements, and bought stamps by the pound.
1935 Pop. Mech. Jan. 30 a/1 (advt.) Many scarce stamps, blank album, perforation gauge, hinges, watermark detector.
1996 Guardian 23 Sept. i. 13/2 The revelation of the watermark detector, the taste of gum arabic on my tongue, the catalogue price of a mint Penny Black.
1999 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 17 Feb. c2/1 The implementation cycle will be based on motion picture studios acquiring the equipment and marking their works and on the time needed for consumer electronics manufacturers to design the watermark detectors into their machines.
2004 K. H. Kim & Y. M. Ro in T. Kalker et al. Digital Watermarking: 2nd Internat. Workshop vii. 476 A watermark detector..can consist of the hardware part of the electronic equipment such as a DVD being included in a program such as image processor software.
watermark disease n. a disease of willow trees caused by obstruction of xylem vessels by the bacterium Brenneria salicis, producing dieback in the crown and stains in the wood, esp. in the cricket-bat willow, Salix alba var. caerulea.
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the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > bacterial diseases
root gall1830
soft rot1886
heart rot1891
crown gall1894
bacteriosis1899
watermark disease1924
1924 W. R. Day in Oxf. Forestry Mem. III. (title) The watermark disease of the cricket-bat willow.
1976 Eastern Evening News (Norwich) 9 Dec. 15/4 This was to cut the cost of services for an inspector on ‘watermark disease’ of willow trees.
2002 M. Sanderson Hist. Univ. E. Anglia xii. 370 John Turner devised a genetically engineered strain of willow resistant to ‘watermark’ disease.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
watermarkv.
/ˈwɔːtəmɑːk/, U.S. /ˈwɔdərˌmɑrk/, /ˈwɑdərˌmɑrk/ 1.
a. transitive. To impress or stamp (paper, banknotes, etc.) with a watermark (watermark n. 5a).
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society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > paper-making > make paper [verb (transitive)] > specific processes
planish1361
calender1513
couch1751
watermarkc1800
part1809
satin1839
re-reel1860
to break in1865
hot press1875
tub-size1880
reslush1938
c1800 Authentic Mem. from Jrnl. King of Swindlers 148 The paper (water-marked with the words, General Accommodation Office,) incomparably more delicate in its texture, than even bank notes.
1874 Stamp-collector's Mag. 12 55 As the Belgian stamps were watermarked, it was deemed best to watermark the Luxemburg stamps.
1920 Pulp & Paper Mag. Canada 4 Nov. 1140/2 One of the most popular low-priced bond papers is Ferncroft Bond. Hitherto the manufacturers were unable to watermark it.
1966 M. R. D. Foot SOE in France iii. 41 First manufacturing and water-marking the paper.
2006 Traditio 61 42 (note) Folios 83-90 are watermarked with a bell and cross..indicating this paper was produced in Venice in 1491.
b. transitive. Computing. To add a digital watermark to (a file, program, etc.).
ΚΠ
1996 Proc. Internat. Conf. Image Processing 245/2 We watermarked the image five successive times.
2003 D. Maltoni et al. Handbk. Fingerprint Recognition ix. 300 The fingerprints captured by the scanner are watermarked by the scanner and any tampering of the image data can be detected by the server.
2013 N. Imran et al. in S. Khan et al. Wireless Sensor Networks v. 481 The scheme is designed for images and thus cannot be applied directly to watermark video content.
2. transitive. To impress (a pattern or design) as a watermark in, into, or on paper. Also figurative.
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society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > paper-making > make paper [verb (transitive)] > embody as watermark
watermark1820
1820 Niles' Weekly Reg. 1 Jan. 292/2 What attracted my attention was a royal crown water-marked in the paper.
1888 Amer. Jrnl. Philately Nov. 384 The figures were watermarked into the stamps issued the following years and continued down to 1862.
1935 Washington Post 5 May st8 You will find when you hold them up to the light a plaid watermarked into them.
1993 L. Balderige New Compl. Guide Executive Manners (rev. ed.) viii. 194 A woman in the fragrance business has the shadow silhouette of her perfume bottle watermarked into the paper, which is always a pale pink parchment.
2011 Irish Times 14 Nov. 13/2 The sound of the whirr of a sewing machine and the image of my mother..cutting fabric, is watermarked into my memory of childhood.
2012 WENN Entertainment News Wire Service (Nexis) 11 July Your name is watermarked (on) each copy [of the script].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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v.c1800