Definition of "marquis" []

• A nobleman ranking below a duke and above an earl or a count. (noun)
• Used as a title for such a nobleman. (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.

• "Days he lived in concealment, and after the second Restoration obtained the title marquis, and in 1819 introduced a motion in the chamber of peers tending to render the electoral law more aristocratic."
• "As a last resort he called the marquis to him, and, while a tear stood on his rough cheek, drew a handful of money from his pocket."
• "I have met a certain French marquis, who is attached to the Count de Moustier's embassy."