When did the 'tick' and 'cross' symbols become recognised as the notation for 'correct' and 'incorre

When did the 'tick' and 'cross' symbols become recognised as the notation for 'correct' and 'incorrect'? Where do these symbols originate from?

Chris, Rochester, England

• I have read before that the tick is actually representative of the first letter of the Latin word Veritas - meaning true. As for the cross, maybe that is the effect of a wrong answer on the teacher.

  John Ames, London, UK

• Don't know the answer, but it may be interesting to know that in Japan the symbols for correct and incorrect are a circle (maru) and a cross (batsu). No ticks.

  Paul, Ashiya, Japan

• I read somewhere that the tick is derived from the letter 'v' for 'veritas' - Latin for truth (or true; my Latin is very poor).

  My best guess on the cross would be that it predates the tick and was just an arbitrary simple mark used to draw attention to a point in a document - in this case, a correction to be made.

  Gary Dunion, Edinburgh, Scotland

• I taught English in South Korea and over there: O = correct and a tick = incorrect.

  Bill, Ireland

• I believe that it originates from the greek language, the tick from the greek work nike (nikas) meaning to win, the greek letter N is written as a V, secondly the X from the greek word to (haneis)meaning to lose, where the greek H is written as X.

  Roulla, Cyprus