marquis
A nobleman in England, France, and Germany, of a rank next below that of duke, but…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.
» Every marquis wants to have pageboys.
Meaning
2 sensesA 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.
Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genus Bassarona (or Euthalia).
- nobleman (in various countries) ranking above a count
- humorist who wrote about the imaginary life of cockroaches (1878-1937)
Examples
2 sentencesEvery marquis wants to have pageboys.
The lady smiled, courtesied, and gave her hand to the Marquis.
Origin
From Middle English markis, from Old French markis, marchis, from Late Latin marchensis, fFrom 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 *mórǵs (“edge, boundary”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: marquises / marquisSynonyms
3 synonyms- nobleman (in various countries) ranking above a count:marquess
- humorist who wrote about the imaginary life of cockroaches (1878-1937):Don MarquisDonald Robert Perry Marquis