marque
marque Lexical Profile
marque Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A commercial brand or make of a product, especially a prestigious or luxury line of motor vehicles.
"The classic car exhibition featured several iconic Italian marques from the 1960s."
Historically, an official license or commission granted by a state to a private citizen to arm a vessel and seize the merchant ships of an enemy nation (usually in the phrase 'letter of marque').
"During the eighteenth century, the admiralty issued letters of marque to private captains to disrupt rival trade routes."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'marque' (a prestigious commercial brand or automotive make) with its homophone 'mark', or with 'marquee' (a large tent or the projecting sign over a theater entrance).
• Rhymes for marque
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from French 'marque' ('mark' or 'brand'), derived from the verb 'marquer' ('to mark'). The historical naval sense ('letter of marque') comes from Old Provençal 'marca' ('seizure' or 'frontier reprisal'), ultimately of Germanic origin and akin to English 'march' ('borderland').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.