Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
marque 1 [mahrk] EXAMPLES|WORD ORIGIN noun letter of marque. Obsolete. seizure by way of reprisal or retaliation. Liberaldictionary.com
Origin of marque 1 1375–1425; late Middle English Middle French Provençal marca seizure by warrant (orig. token) Germanic; see mark1 marque 2 [mahrk] noun a product model or type, as of a luxury or racing car. Origin of marque 2 1905–10; French: literally, mark, sign, noun derivative of marquer to mark, probably dial. derivative of Old French merc, merche boundary, boundary marker Old Norse merki (from same Germanic base as march2, mark1, marque1 La Marque [luh-mahrk] noun a city in SE coastal Texas. Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Examples from the Web for marque Historical Examples of marque
Letters of Marque were granted by the Governor of the Mauritius.
Famous Privateersmen and Adventurers of the Sea
Charles H. L. Johnston
Also a colloquialism for marque, as a letter of mart or marque.
William Henry Smyth
And what did your letters of marque say as to the Portuguese slaver we sank in the Gaboons?
Allen Upward
Of course we are really a trader, though we do carry a letter of marque.
G. A. Henty
“You mean she is able to see anybody on the platform,” said Marque, confused and astounded.
Robert W. Chambers
British Dictionary definitions for marque marque noun a brand of product, esp of a car an emblem or nameplate used to identify a product, esp a car See letter of marque Word Origin for marque from French, from marquer to mark 1 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 marque n.
“seizure by way of reprisal,” mid-15c., in letters of marque “official permission to capture enemy merchant ships,” from Anglo-French mark (mid-14c.), via Old French from Old Provençal marca “reprisal,” from marcar “seize as a pledge, mark,” probably from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German marchon “delimit, mark;” see mark (n.1)), but the sense evolution is difficult.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
