marquis

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   nobleman (in various countries) ranking above a count

2. 2
   noun

   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.

3. 3
   noun

   Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genus Bassarona (or Euthalia).

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

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