Definition of "marquess" [mar•quess]

• Variant of marquis. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A marquess was a sort of gone-off duke; even in this democratic age, he would have some influence, one supposed."
• "Lest you picture me cowering in this cupboard to escape some hulking brute of a husband, let me assure you that the marquess has been the very model of solicitousness."
• "The wife of a marquess is a marchioness, the wife of an earl is a countess earl is the British equivalent of count, the wife of a viscount is a viscountess, the wife of a baron is a baroness."