marquevsmarquessWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“marque” and “marquess” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,747
“marque” frequency rank
#36,241
“marquess” frequency rank
83988
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marque marquess
Definition A brand of a manufactured product, especially of a motor car. A title of nobility for a man ranking beneath a duke and above an earl.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set marque and marquess apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
marque
8 ch
marquess

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. marque (/ˈmɑː(ɹ)k/) and marquess (/ˈmɑː.kwɪs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “marque” sits inside “marquess”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marque is recorded at frequency rank #47,747, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑː(ɹ)k/. marquess is at rank #36,241, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑː.kwɪs/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 83988, this pair ranks #12,800 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of marque vs marquess

Shared letters: aemqru. Private to "marque": -. Private to "marquess": s.

"marque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "marquess" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marqueamrque · maqrue · marqeu · marqque · marrque · maruqe · mmarque · mraque
  • marquessamrquess · maqruess · marqeuss · marqquess · marques · marquses · marrquess · maruqess

Frequency comparison

marque#47,747
marquess#36,241

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marque" and "marquess" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɑː(ɹ)k/ versus /ˈmɑː.kwɪs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "marque" or "marquess"?
"marquess" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,241 in our English list, against #47,747 for "marque". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering marque vs marquess

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marque” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list