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demarcation [demarcation 词源字典]: demarcation: [18] As its form and meaning would suggest, demarcation is indeed related to mark, but only in a distinctly roundabout way. The word comes, possibly via French, from Spanish demarcación, a derivative of the verb demarcar ‘mark out the boundaries of’, which in turn is descended ultimately from the same prehistoric Germanic ancestor as English mark ‘sign, trace’.

It originally came into English in very specific application to the boundary line between the Spanish and Portuguese spheres of influence in the New World, as laid down by Pope Alexander VI in a bull of 4 May 1493. In Spanish this was the linea de demarcación (in Portuguese, linha de demarcação). By the middle of the 18th century the word was being used in English in much more general contexts.

The familiar modern phrase demarcation dispute, relating to inter-union squabbles, dates from the 1930s.
[demarcation etymology, demarcation origin, 英语词源]
design: design: [16] The semantic history of design is a little complicated. It comes ultimately from the past participle of Latin dēsignāre ‘mark out’ (source also of English designate [15]), a compound verb formed from the prefix dē- ‘out’ and signāre ‘mark’, a derivative of signum ‘sign’. But English acquired it largely via French, in which a three-way split of form and meaning had taken place.

In both respects désigner ‘point out, denote’ remains closest to the original Latin, but this use of the word has now died out in English, having been taken over by designate. This has left the field open to the metaphorical use ‘plan’, represented in French on the one hand by dessein ‘purpose, intention’ and on the other by dessin ‘pattern, drawing’ and its related verb dessiner.

They represent the two main areas of meaning covered by the word in modern English, although English has stuck to the more latinate spelling.
=> designate, sign
assign (v.): c. 1300, from Old French assiginer (13c.) "assign, set (a date, etc.); appoint legally; allot," from Latin assignare "to mark out, to allot by sign, assign, award," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + signare "make a sign," from signum "mark" (see sign). Main original use was in English law, in transferences of personal property. General meaning "to fix, settle, determine, appoint" is from c. 1300. Related: Assigned; assigning.
contemplation (n.): c. 1200, "religious musing," from Old French contemplation or directly from Latin contemplationem (nominative contemplatio) "act of looking at," from contemplat-, past participle stem of contemplari "to gaze attentively, observe," originally "to mark out a space for observation" (as an augur does). From com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + templum "area for the taking of auguries" (see temple (n.1)).
delimit (v.): 1852, from French délimiter (18c.), from Latin delimitare "to mark out as a boundary," from de- (see de-) + limitare, from limitem, limes "boundary, limit" (see limit (n.)). Related: Delimited; delimiting.
denote (v.): 1590s, from Middle French dénoter (14c.), from Latin denotare "denote, mark out," from de- "completely" (see de-) + notare "to mark" (see note (v.)). Related: Denoted; denoting.
design (v.): 1540s, from Latin designare "mark out, devise, choose, designate, appoint," from de- "out" (see de-) + signare "to mark," from signum "a mark, sign" (see sign (n.)). Originally in English with the meaning now attached to designate; many modern uses of design are metaphoric extensions. Related: Designed; designing.
design (n.): 1580s, from Middle French desseign "purpose, project, design," from Italian disegno, from disegnare "to mark out," from Latin designare "to mark out" (see design (v.)).
diagram (n.): 1610s, from French diagramme, from Latin diagramma, from Greek diagramma "geometric figure, that which is marked out by lines," from diagraphein "mark out by lines, delineate," from dia- "across, out" (see dia-) + graphein "write, mark, draw" (see -graphy). The verb is 1840, from the noun.
march (n.2): "boundary," late 13c. (in reference to the borderlands beside Wales, rendering Old English Mercia), from Old French marche "boundary, frontier," from Frankish *marka or some other Germanic source (compare Old High German marchon "to mark out, delimit," German Mark "boundary;" see mark (n.1)). Now obsolete. There was a verb in Middle English (c. 1300), "to have a common boundary," from Old French marchier "border upon, lie alongside." This is the old Germanic word for "border, boundary," but as it came to mean "borderland" in many languages new words were borrowed in the original sense (compare border(n.), bound (n.)"border, boundary"). Modern German Grenze is from Middle High German grenize (13c., replacing Old High German marcha), a loan-word from Slavic (compare Polish and Russian granica). Dutch grens, Danish groense, Swedish gräns are from German.
remark (v.): 1630s, "to mark out, distinguish" modeled on French remarquer "to mark, note, heed," formed in Middle French from re-, intensive prefix (see re-), + marquer "to mark," probably from a Germanic source such as Old High German marchon "to delimit" (see mark (n.1)).

Meaning "take notice of" is from 1670s; that of "make a comment" is first attested 1690s, from notion of "make a verbal observation" or "call attention to specific points." Related: Remarked; remarking.
sign (v.): c. 1300, "to make the sign of the cross," from Old French signier "to make a sign (to someone); to mark," from Latin signare "to set a mark upon, mark out, designate; mark with a stamp; distinguish, adorn;" figuratively "to point out, signify, indicate," from signum (see sign (n.)). Sense of "to mark, stamp" is attested from mid-14c.; that of "to affix one's name" is from late 15c. Meaning "to communicate by hand signs" is recorded from 1700. Related: Signed; signing.