watermark

[waw-ter-mahrk, wot-er-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR watermark ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a mark indicating the height to which water rises or has risen, as in a river or inlet.

water line(def 5).

a figure or design impressed in some paper during manufacture, visible when the paper is held to the light.

verb (used with object)

to mark (paper) with a watermark.

to impress (a design, pattern, etc.), as a watermark.

Origin of watermark

First recorded in 1625–35; water + mark¹

Related formsun·wa·ter·marked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for watermark

apex, apogee, acme, ceiling, peak, tidemark

Examples from the Web for watermark

Contemporary Examples of watermark

Do they really need to post this video, which TMZ proudly put their watermark over so that everyone knows where it came from?
TMZ Makes Tragedy Porn Out of Tracy Morgan’s Gruesome Car Accident
Dean Obeidallah
June 12, 2014
Or Wintour, who has another agenda entirely for promoting rail-thinness as the watermark for beauty?
The Fat Wars
Marisa Meltzer
May 19, 2009

Historical Examples of watermark

A white silk handkerchief, with a watermark, was chosen instead.
The Manxman
Hall Caine
They held the envelope up to the light in order to discover a watermark.
The Island Mystery
George A. Birmingham
The paper is white wove and has no watermark, and the stamps were not perforated.
Gambia
Frederick John Melville
It was the doubt I entertained of the faithfulness of this watermark.
The Boy Tar
Mayne Reid
The detection of this watermark fraud is simple and infallible.
The Detection of Forgery
Douglas Blackburn

British Dictionary definitions for watermark

watermark

noun

a distinguishing mark impressed on paper during manufacture, visible when the paper is held up to the light

another word for water line (def. 1), water line (def. 2)

verb (tr)

to mark (paper) with a watermark

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for watermark

1708, "distinctive mark on paper," from water (n.1) + mark (n.1). Cf. German wassermarke. Not produced by water, but probably so called because it looks like a wet spot. The verb is recorded from 1866.