Etymology The noun is derived from ear + mark. The verb is derived from the noun.
1
Agriculture, Business, Lifestyle A mark made or tag attached to the ear of an animal (chiefly a livestock animal), generally to identify or indicate something about the animal, such as ownership, health or gestation status, etc.
Some mark them [sheep] vvith Raddle and make Ear-marks.1725, [Noël] Chomel, “MARKING OF SHEEP”, in R[ichard] Bradley, editor, Dictionaire Oeconomique: Or, The Family Dictionary. […], volume II (I–Z), London: […] D[aniel] Midwinter, […], →OCLC, signature Llll2, recto, column 1:
2
Figuratively A distinguishing or identifying mark or sign; specifically (archaic), a mark of ownership.
[H]e ſhoulde be dyſcryued by hys rounding and his eare marke: […]1551, Thomas More, “The Fyrste Boke of the Communycacion of Raphaell Hythlodaye Concernynge the Best State of a Commen Wealthe”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, […], →OCLC, signature [D.viii.], verso:
Mr. Bayes, many as proper a man as your ſelf march'd up Holborn for diſtinguiſhing betvvixt the VVealth and the Fanatick: and moreover let me tell you, Fanatick Money hath no Ear-mark.1672, [Andrew Marvell], The Rehearsal Transpros’d: Or, Animadversions upon a Late Book, Entituled, A Preface, Shewing what Grounds there are of Fears and Jealousies of Popery, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 151:
3 more examples
VVe are likevviſe all agreed that if the goods had remain in ſpecie unſold in the bankrupt's hands at the time of the bankruptcy, the plaintiffs might have recovered them in an action of trover, and that they could not be applied to pay the bankrupt's debts, […] [W]hy are goods conſidered ſtill as the ovvners? becauſe they remain in ſpecie, and ſo may be diſtinguiſhed from the reſt of the bankrupt's eſtate. But as money has no earmark, it cannot be diſtinguiſhed.1743 February 21 (date decided; Gregorian calendar), [John] Willes, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, “Jonathan Scott and Francis Richardson against Robert Surman Salem Owne and John Cruickshank, Assignees of Richard Scott a Bankrupt”, in Charles Durnford, editor, Reports of Adjudged Cases in the Court of Common Pleas during the Time Lord Chief Justice Willes Presided in that Court; […], London: […] A. Strahan, […], for J[oseph] Butterworth, […], published 1799, →OCLC, page 404:
I am inclined to think that his most besetting sin in style,—the little earmark by which he is most conspicuous,—is a certain affected familiarity.1879, Anthony Trollope, “Thackeray’s Style and Manner of Work”, in John Morley, editor, Thackeray (English Men of Letters; 10), London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 201:
[…] I saw in my patient one of the most forbidding men I have ever met. He had all the earmarks of a criminal.1959, Brunettie Burrow, Angels in White, San Antonio, Tex.: Naylor, →OCLC, page 112:
Etymology The noun is derived from ear + mark. The verb is derived from the noun.
1
Agriculture, Business, Lifestyle To make a mark or attach a tag to the ear of (an animal, chiefly a livestock animal), generally to identify or indicate something about the animal, such as ownership.
2
Figuratively To put a distinguishing or identifying mark or sign on (something); to make (something) distinctive or identifiable.
3
Figuratively To designate or set aside (someone or something) for a particular purpose; to allocate.
In barely a decade, the War on Drugs went from being a political slogan to an actual war. Now that police departments were suddenly flush with cash and military equipment earmarked for the drug war, they needed to make use of their new resources.2012, Michelle Alexander, “The Lockdown”, in The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: The New Press, →ISBN, page 74:
But even I draw the line at "doing crunches" in designer clothes. Fashion sneakers are for swanking around the shops, not for running in. And so, like everyone else, I wear grotty old tracksuits earmarked for Oxfam, and tragic free festival T-shirts that give away my age.2017 November 16, Jo Ellison, “Help: The gym has turned us into slobs”, in Financial Times, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Nov 2017:
4
Business, FinanceFiguratively Chiefly followed by for: to designate (certain funds) to be used for a specific purpose.
You can donate to the organization as a whole, or you can earmark your contribution for a particular project.
A widening of the M4 had long been mooted, and the Welsh Government had even earmarked most of the required £1.6bn funding for a new 14-mile, six-lane section around Newport. Then, in the face of opposition from environmentalists, came a realisation that similar road schemes across the world tend merely to encourage greater car use and therefore soon prove ineffective in solving the original problem.2020 December 2, Christian Wolmar, “Wales Offers Us a Glimpse of an Integrated Transport Policy”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 56:
5
Business, FinanceUK, Figuratively To designate (part of a pension) to be payable to the holder's former spouse or payment when the pension is paid.