MARQUE

Etymology

Noun

marque (plural marques)

A license to pass the limits of a jurisdiction, or boundary of a country, for the purpose of making reprisals; a letter of marque.

A brand or make of a manufactured product, especially of a motor car (in contradistinction to a model).

A ship commissioned for making captures.

Source: Wiktionary

Marque, n. Etym: [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.] (Law)

Definition: A license to pass the limits of a jurisdiction, or boundary of a country, for the purpose of making reprisals. Letters of marque, Letters of marque and reprisal, a license or extraordinary commission granted by a government to a private person to fit out a privateer or armed ship to cruise at sea and make prize of the enemy's ships and merchandise. The ship so commissioned is sometimes called a letter of marque.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition