marquis
/mɑɹˈki/noun
marquis is spelled M-A-R-Q-U-I-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “marquee vs marquis” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, marquis means “A nobleman in England, France, and Germany, of a rank next below that of duke, but above a count. Originally, the marquis was an officer whose duty…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of marquis is marquises; Wiktionary also lists marquisses (obsolete).
How many letters and syllables are in marquis?
| Letters | 7: M-A-R-Q-U-I-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words; the 16,005th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is marquis?
Marquis appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce marquis?
- UK /ˈmɑː.kwɪs/
- US /mɑɹˈki/
- US /ˈmɑɹ.kwɪs/
Marquis has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-marquis.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with marquis
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with marquis?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as marquis from its last stressed vowel (/i/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of marquis
- marquises plural
- marquess
- marquesse
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does marquis mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A nobleman in England, France, and Germany, of a rank next below that of duke, but above a count. Originally, the marquis was an officer whose duty was to guard the marches or frontiers of the kingdom. The office has ceased, and the name is now a mere title conferred by letters patent or letters close.
- 2
Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genus Bassarona (or Euthalia).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does marquis come from?
From Middle English markis, from Old French markis, marchis, from Late Latin marchensis, from Old High German marcha and Frankish *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō, from Proto-Indo-European *mórǵs (“edge, boundary”). Meaning is “lord of the march”, in sense of march (“border country”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).