Mark from the Ol English mearc and march (or various plural forms of these words) derived from the Frankish word marka ("boundary"), refer to a border region, e.g. the borderland between England and Wales, similar to a frontier. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe. In contrast to a buffer zone, a march could be dominated by a country, and rather than being demilitarized, it could be fortified for defense against the neighbouring country.