▪ I. marque1
(mɑːk)
Forms: 5, 8 mark, marc, margue (? error for marque), 6 markque, merk, 6–7 marke, 7– marque.
[a. F. marque (OF. also merke), ad. Pr. marca, vbl. n. f. marcar (med.L. marcāre) to seize as a pledge.
It is uncertain whether this is connected with mark n.1]
† 1. Reprisals; occas. = letter of marque (see 2).
| [1354 Act 27 Edw. III, Stat. 2 c. 17 Purveu..que..nous eions la lei de Mark & de represailles. 1417 Act 4 Hen. V, Stat. 2 c. 7 Que de toutz attemptatz faitz par ses ennemys..encountre le tenure daucunes Trieuves..en les quelles nest pas fait expresse mencion que toutz marques & reprisailles cesseront..nostre Signior le Roi a toutz qi lour sentiront en tiel cas grevez, voet grauntier marque en due forme.] 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 205 Be way of mark..; that is to say..a lettre of leve to tak ony man of that contree. Ibid. 220 The king aw to geve letter of powar to tak mark apon thame. 1473 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 65/2 Any Sentence, Jugement, Margue or Reprisale yeven. 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 210 The lawes of Marque, or Reprisales. |
2. letter of marque. a. Usually pl., letters of marque (and reprisal). Originally, a licence granted by a sovereign to a subject, authorizing him to make reprisals on the subjects of a hostile state for injuries alleged to have been done to him by the enemy's army. In later times this became practically a licence to fit out an armed vessel and employ it in the capture of the merchant shipping belonging to the enemy's subjects, the holder of letters of marque being called a privateer or corsair, and entitled by international law to commit against the hostile nation acts which would otherwise have been condemned as piracy. Also † letters of mart: see mart n.5
So far as European nations are concerned the issue of letters of marque was abolished by the Congress of Paris in 1856.
| 1447 Rolls of Parlt. V. 135 To graunte to youre saide Besechers, letters of Marc and Reprisail. 1545 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 10 Ane letter of mark gevin and grantit be the maist cristin king of France. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 145 b, Shewyng hym how their goodes were taken, by letters of Marke, their shippes restrained [etc.]. 1702 Royal Declar. June in Lond. Gaz. No. 3815/3 Her Majesty having Impowered the Lord High Admiral of England to grant Letters of Marque, or Commissions for Privateers. 1789 Constit. U.S. Art. i. §8 Congress shall have power..to grant letters of marque and reprisal. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. (1861) II. 299 To make war upon Alva was the leading object of all these freebooters, and they were usually furnished by the Prince of Orange..with letters of marque for that purpose. |
b. A ship carrying letters of marque; a privateer.
| c 1800 E. C. Knight Autobiog. I. 106 A Ragusan commanding a letter-of-mark. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xxxviii, As letter of marque, I shall have the right of capture. |
c. attrib. in letter of marque man, marque ship.
| 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3910/4 A French Letter of Marque Man. 1708 Ibid. No. 4440/2 Any such Privateer or Letter of Marque Ship. |
▪ II. marque2
(mɑːk)
[Fr., = mark, sign.]
= mark n.1 15 b. A model or brand esp. of motor vehicle.
| 1906 C. Jarrott Ten Yrs. Motors & Motor Racing x. 174 Half-way to Bordeaux, and out of the first four cars two were Dietrich—this seemed a good record for the marque. 1956 Road & Track Oct. 5 (Advt.), The marque of Mercedes-Benz. Ibid. 14 The firm and marque has not actively participated in competition. 1958 N. & Q. Feb. 86/1 ‘Marque’ is surely a recent borrowing from the French language where it is in general use to denote a particular type of variety of a product, e.g. Frigidaire, Hoover, etc... The channel whereby the word has passed from French to English is doubtless international motor-racing. 1960 Times 4 July (Suppl.) 1/1 Sixty years is long..also in the reign of a branded product—particularly in the reign of a marque of cigarette. 1972 Daily Tel. 28 Jan. 6/8 The Renault 5 has all the comfort associated with the marque, despite its lack of size. 1973 Times 5 Oct. (Safety Suppl.) p. iv, But it should be emphasized that both marques are in the executive/luxury category and that to make a small family saloon as safe as a Mercedes or a Volvo would involve problems of weight and cost that are probably insuperable. |