Word Study
marque
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun marque has 1 sense
- marque(n = noun.communication) brand, brand name, trade name - a name given to a product or service; Array is a kind of name
has particulars: label, recording label
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]
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.
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
For further exploring for "marque" in Webster Dictionary Online