marque

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

marque, n. [F. marque, in lettre de marque letter of marque, a commission with which the commandant of every armed vessel was obliged to be provided, under penalty of being considered a pirate or corsair; marque here prob. meaning, border, boundary (the letter of marque being a permission to go beyond the border), and of German origin. See March border.].

 A license to pass the limits of a jurisdiction, or boundary of a country, for the purpose of making reprisals.  [1913 Webster]

Letters of marque, Letters of marque and reprisal, a license or extraordinary commission granted by a government to a private person to fit out a privateer or armed ship to cruise at sea and make prize of the enemy's ships and merchandise. The ship so commissioned is sometimes called a letter of marque.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

marque, n. a make of motor car, as distinct from a specific model (the Jaguar marque).

marque, n. hist.

Idiom

letters of marque (or marque and reprisal)
1 a licence to fit out an armed vessel and employ it in the capture of an enemy's merchant shipping.
2 (in sing.) a ship carrying such a licence.

Etymology

ME f. F f. Prov. marca f. marcar seize as a pledge