markup
UK[ˈmɑːkʌp]US[ˈmɑːrkʌp]
n
The amount added to the cost price of goods to cover overhead and profit.
n
The process or result of correcting and preparing text for printing or electronic display.
n
A set of tags assigned to elements of a text to indicate their logical structure or how they should be displayed.
Morpheme Breakdown
mark
up
mark
up
Etymology
The compound 'markup' is a transparent combination of the verb 'mark' and the adverbial particle 'up', following a common Germanic pattern for forming nouns from phrasal verbs. The original commercial sense, recorded from the early 20th century, logically derives from the act of 'marking up' a base cost price to establish a selling price. This core idea of adding annotations or incremental value was later extended into publishing and computing, where 'markup' refers to the system of adding symbolic codes or tags to a text to instruct on its processing, structure, or presentation, thus 'marking it up' for a specific purpose.
Analysis
Structure: mark + up
- mark (verb): From Old English mearcian (to trace boundaries, to make a sign), of Germanic origin. Functional role: The core action of making a sign or notation.
- up (adverb): From Old English up, upp, of Germanic origin. Functional role: An adverbial particle indicating completion, increase, or a final state.
Examples
The store applies a 50% markup on all imported goods.
The editor is responsible for the markup of the manuscript before it goes to the typesetter.
HTML is a standard markup language for creating web pages.