marquis

See also: Marquis

English

Alternative forms

• marquess (with a feminine suffix, but still masculine in gender)
• marquesse (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English markis, from Old French markis, marchis, from Late Latin marchensis, from Old High German marcha and Frankish *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō, from Proto-Indo-European *marǵ- (“edge, boundary”).

Meaning is “lord of the march”, in sense of march (“border country”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑː.kwɪs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɑɹ.ˈki/, /ˈmɑɹ.kwɪs/
• (General American, for the plural spelled marquis) IPA^(key): /mɑɹ.ˈkiz/

Noun

marquis (plural marquises or marquis or (obsolete) marquisses)

1. A nobleman in England, France, and Germany, of a rank next below that of duke, but above a count. Originally, the marquis was an officer whose duty was to guard the marches or frontiers of the kingdom. The office has ceased, and the name is now a mere title conferred by letters patent or letters close.
2. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genus Bassarona (or Euthalia).

Derived terms

• marquisate
• Marquis of Queensberry rules

Related terms

• marchioness
• marquee
• marquise

Translations

nobleman — see marquess

References

• “marquis”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• asquirm

Catalan

Verb

marquis

1. second-person singular present subjunctive of marcar

French

Etymology

From Old French marchis, from the same origin as marcher.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maʁ.ki/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

marquis m (plural marquis, feminine marquise)

1. marquess (title of nobility)

Descendants

• → Arabic: مَرْكِيز (markīz)
• → Belarusian: маркі́з (markíz)
• → Macedonian: маркиз (markiz)
• → Ottoman Turkish: ماركی (marki)
  • Turkish: marki
• → Persian: مارکی (mârki)
• → Polish: markiz
• → Romanian: marchiz
• → Russian: марки́з (markíz)
  • → Armenian: մարկիզ (markiz)
  • → Azerbaijani: markiz
  • → Uzbek: markiz
• → Serbo-Croatian:
  • Cyrillic script: маркиз
  • Latin script: markiz
• → Ukrainian: маркі́з (markíz)

Further reading

• “marquis”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.