I tend to think of “marinating” when it comes to getting flavor into food (meat, tofu, veg, fruit) and “macerating” as the process of adding sugar to a fruit to draw out the juices and break down the flesh.
According to a couple of brief web searches it seems that I may be wrong in my understanding of the meaning/usage of the two terms.
Edited to add: I also tend to think of marinating as an act prior to cooking something and macerating not necessarily involving cooking the item after it has been macerated. Though I can also immediately think of situations where that doesn’t apply, too.
I think you’re right in the early part of your explanation, and the definitions support that.
I also think of marinating typically as a before (and also as a tenderizer in many cases), but I guess you could could cook first and add the marinade/sauce after.
Macerate I think I only use for fruit, though I guess you could probably call salting some vegetables to pull out water or bitterness macerating as well.
When you marinate food you soak it in a liquid mixture to flavor and tenderize it. Teriyaki marinade is a good example. You can buy this marinade – a combination of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, cooking oil and ginger – but I do not think it is as good as homemade. In a word, homemade tastes fresher. For the best kitchen appliance here.
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