marquis

¹

[mahr-kwis, mahr-kee, mar-kee]

noun

plural

marquises, marquis 

1. a nobleman ranking next below a duke and above an earl or count.

Marquis

²

[mahr-kwis]

noun

1. Don(ald Robert Perry), 1878–1937, U.S. humorist and poet.

Marquis

¹

/ ˈmɑːkwɪs /

noun

1. Don ( ald Robert Perry ). 1878–1937, US humorist; author of archy and mehitabel (1927)

marquis

²

/ ˈmɑːkwɪs, marki, mɑːˈkiː /

noun

1. (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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Marquis¹

1250–1300; Middle English markis < Middle French marquis < Italian marchese < Medieval Latin *( comēs ) marc ( h ) ēnsis (count) of a borderland. See march ², -ese

Word History and Origins

Origin of Marquis¹

C14: from Old French marchis, literally: count of the march, from marche _march ²

Example Sentences

A 2005 biography of Bradford suggested she was indeed descended from lofty stock by way of her mother, who was, it said, the illegitimate daughter of a marquis.

From BBC

He was a minor nobleman, in fact—a marquis.

From Literature

What keeps the whole thing from drifting completely off into the ether is how Mrs. Harris and the marquis bond over the loss of a loved one.”

From Seattle Times

What keeps the whole thing from drifting completely off into the ether is how Mrs. Harris and the marquis bond over the loss of a loved one.

From Seattle Times

Cocherel had been singled out by the Baron de Vastey in his treatise on the horrors of slavery, but in flowing handwriting, the commissioner’s note taker recorded the marquis’s losses with bureaucratic dispassion:

From New York Times

Related Words

• aristocrat 
• blue blood 
• emperor 
• patrician