remark

From Middle French remarquer, from Old French remarquer, from re- (“again”) + marquer (“to mark”); see mark.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈmɑɹk/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈmɑːk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k

remark (countable and uncountable, plural remarks)

1. An act of pointing out or noticing; notice or observation.
   • 1959 June, “Super-railway planned in Japan”, in Trains Illustrated, page 313:

     It is worth remark that the Japanese railways are among the busiest in the world; moreover, their traffic is growing.

2. An expression, in speech or writing, of something remarked or noticed; a mention of something
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter III, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:

     One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.

   • 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, OCLC 977517776:

     But the journey might have been one of several hours’ duration, without provoking a remark from either; for it was clear that Jonas did not mean to break the silence which prevailed between them, and that it was not, as yet, his dear friend’s cue to tempt them into conversation.

   make a remark

   pass a remark

   a biting remark

   a funny remark

   a spoken remark

3. A casual observation, comment, or statement
   • 2014, Stephen King, Mr. Mercedes: A Novel:

     He remembers something Pete Huntley said at lunch, just a remark in passing, and the answer comes to him.

4. (engraving) Alternative form of remarque

remark (third-person singular simple present remarks, present participle remarking, simple past and past participle remarked)

1. (transitive) To pay heed to; notice; to take notice of, to perceive. [from 16th c.]
   • 1886, Robert Louis Stephenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde:

     "Did you ever remark that door?" he asked; and when his companion had replied in the affirmative, "It is connected in my mind," added he, "with a very odd story."

   • 1889 January 3, Antoine D'Abbadie, in a letter to the editor of Nature, volume 39, pages 247-248:

     When travelling in Spain, Willkomm remarked qobar at a distance of 3 or 4 miles, yet, on reaching the actual spot, he saw nothing.

   • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:

     “Let's just be grateful he's alive,” said Kate, and several heads turned sharply, remarking this unaccustomed display of feeling from a Fifth Floor lady.

2. (obsolete, transitive) To pass comment on (something); to indicate, point out. [16th–18th c.]
   • 1790, Amelia Opie, Dangers of Coquetry, vol. II, ch. 19:

     [S]he resolved to […] enter into conversation with her, by remarking the warmth of the room and the length of the dance.

3. (obsolete, transitive) To mark (someone or something) out; to distinguish, to make notable. [17th c.]
   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398:

     His manacles remark him; there he sits.

4. (transitive, with clause as object) To express in words or writing; to state, as an observation. [from 17th c.]
   • c. 1626, John Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore:

     Thou art a man remark'd to taste a mischief.

   He remarked that it was getting late.

   • 1904, Elma MacGibbon, Leaves of Knowledge:

     He looked at me with pity, which caused me to smile, remarking that I had noticed that here and elsewhere in the east, the heroes had monuments or statues erected to their memory […]

5. (intransitive) To make a remark or remarks on, to comment on (something). [from 17th c.]

re- +‎ mark

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɹiˈmɑɹk/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɹiːˈmɑːk/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

remark (plural remarks)

1. Alternative spelling of re-mark

remark (third-person singular simple present remarks, present participle remarking, simple past and past participle remarked)

1. Alternative spelling of re-mark

• remark in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• remark in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

• Kramer, marker