marquis
[mahr-kwis, mahr-kee; French mar-kee]
- a nobleman ranking next below a duke and above an earl or count.
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Also British, marquess.
Origin of marquis
Marquis
[mahr-kwis]
- Don(ald Robert Perry),1878–1937, U.S. humorist and poet.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for marquis
Contemporary Examples
The French aristocrat Marquis de Sade once said that “It is only by way of pain one arrives at pleasure.”
Her husband was the Marquis of Lorne when she married him, later the 9th Duke of Argyll.
Marquis says online ads, phone calls, and follow-up emails soliciting money directly for Ken Cuccinelli will follow shortly.
Marquis et al. are looking to fry a much bigger, much blonder political fish.
That same evening, they are entertaining a local landowner, the Marquis de Cambremer.
Historical Examples
The Marquis found Vienna less gay than it was on his former visit.
But the Marquis has no mercy on the performances of poor Miss Pardoe.
The Marquis made a round of the principal of those mansions.
The Marquis had naturally expected to find him in the midst of pomp.
Cannot we go to them, who do not seek the hospitality of the marquis?
Fair MargaretH. Rider Haggard
marquis
- (in various countries) a nobleman ranking above a count, corresponding to a British marquess. The title of marquis is often used in place of that of marquess
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French marchis, literally: count of the march, from marche march ²
Marquis
- Don (ald Robert Perry). 1878–1937, US humorist; author of archy and mehitabel (1927)
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for marquis
n.
also marquess, c.1300, title of nobility, from Old French marchis, literally "ruler of a border area," from Old French marche "frontier," from Medieval Latin marca "frontier, frontier territory" (see march (n.1)). Originally the ruler of border territories in various European regions (e.g. Italian marchese, Spanish marqués); later a mere title of rank, below duke and above count. Related: Marquisate.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper