Where does “marquis” come from?
Marquis comes from French marquis, from Old French marchis, from French marcher meaning "to march," from Frankish markōn meaning "to mark or delimit a border," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mereg- meaning "to bound or mark off."
marquis (English): A nobleman in England, France, and Germany, of a...
Definitions
- A nobleman in England, France, and Germany, of a...
Ancestry of “marquis”, step by step
marquis traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French marquis
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | marquis | marquess |
| 2 | Old French | marchis | marquis |
| 3 | Latin | marcliensis | — |
| 4 | Frankish | markōn | to mark, mark out, to press with the foot |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | markōną | to mark; to notice |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | markō | border, boundary; region, area |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | morǵ- | edge, boundary, border; frontier, border |
via Middle English markis
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | markis | — |
| 2 | Old French | markis | — |
| 3 | Late Latin | marchensis | — |