demarcation

noun

1. the determining and marking off of the boundaries of something.
2. separation by distinct boundaries: line of demarcation.

noun

1. the act of establishing limits or boundaries
2. a limit or boundary
3. 1. a strict separation of the kinds of work performed by members of different trade unions
   2. (as modifier)demarcation dispute
4. separation or distinction (often in the phrase line of demarcation)

n.

c.1752, from Spanish linea de demarcacion or Portuguese linha de demarcaçao, name of the line laid down by Pope Alexander VI, May 4, 1493, dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal on a line 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Applied from 1801 to other lines dividing regions. From Spanish de- (see de-) + marcar “to mark the boundaries of,” from a Germanic source (see mark (n.1)).