Marches

Marches is ambiguous. It can be:

• the third person singular inflection of the verb 'to march': a soldier marches
• a unit [e.g. of time] connected with the above verb, for example 'Rome lay three marches away'. A forced march is a military march carried out under pressure of greater speed or distance, or both, than normal
• a geographical or political designation of an area, meaning 'borderland'.
  • In Britain, the Marches is usually the lands lying between England and Wales, nowadays most often applied to Shropshire. A marcher lord is a magnate responsible for the border
    • Before the Act of Union 1707, the - often lawless - border between England and Scotland was divided into three Marched for each country, the East March, West March and Middle March. Wardens were appointed for each of these to govern and control the Border.

obsolete 'wild celery'; also 'spoor of an otter'; part of a loom

plural of month